Zoids, Flight of the Phoenix
by Luna339
Summary: (Third in a series, please read the other two first) Ten years after Searching for the past, Nadia and the others have battled the Chaos-in using the Phoenix, but can they win? Or will they need help from a certain 3 people. COMPLETE!
1. The Party

Authors note: Hey Im back! Thanks allot for all the support during my other fics cuz I really do appreciate it so much....  
  
wow a third story.... never thought I would even continue with the first. It's all because of the great reviews from all of you. Thanks!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own zoids but I do own the plot and some of the characters in this story. All the other characters are owned by their respective owners. Please do not take this plot or the characters without my or the owners permission. Thanks!  
  
My spell check is not working right so some of the words may still be mispelled. Im sorry. I tried to have a friend use his spell check, but the when he sent it back to me through email, my computer just kept doing that stupid "this program has prefored an illigal operation thing" once again, sorry.  
  
Hope you enjoy!  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
"Come on Nadia!" A young man with shoulder length silver hair and brilliant bright blue eyes yelled, "We're going to be late!" He continued to climb the cliffs quickly, the two setting crimson moons of Zi illuminating his silver hair in a strange light. He wore an open black vest with no undershirt, and dark blue pants and gloves. His black boots had mettle tips, and they dug into the rocks as he climbed. He looked down at his twin sister and fiddled with the earring in his left ear, "Damn! Hurry up!"  
  
"Wait up Koh!" Nadia yelled, her waist length silver hair swaying slightly in the breeze. She turned her bright silver eyes on her brother, "I'm going as fast as I can!"  
  
Koh sighed and finished scurrying up the cliffs. He then knelt at the edge of the cliff, letting his hand hang to try and reach his sister. She took his hand and he easily pulled her the rest of the way.  
  
"Thanks." Nadia stood, brushing the dirt of of herself. She wore a low cut light blue shirt, along with a light blue short skirt. She also wore a long white jacket that reached her knees, and a pair of tan boots and white lace gloves. Around her neck was a necklace of a phoenix that her father had made for her on her 15th birthday.  
  
"Come on!" Koh grabbed her hand and pulled her the rest of the way. They ran to the eastern side of the cliff, just as the horizon began to fade into a soft purple. The stood at the edge of the cliff, watching the sun show it's brilliant face over the distant horizon. They saw the soft beams of light spread over the great desert of Zi, and the waterfall Oasis on which they stood.  
  
"Happy birthday, Koh." Nadia said, watching as the sky changed from soft purple to light pink, and finaly blue.  
  
"Yeah. You too." Koh answered.  
  
"You know what day it is don't you.... other than our birthday?" Nadia giggled.  
  
"Of course. It's the one day of the year where kids can go around dressed up as anything they want to be.... do anything they want to do. Its the only time of year when you can be someone your not...." He grinned mischievously, like a five your old looking at a big red button that says "Do not touch" right on it, "It is the best holiday of the year.... Halloween!"  
  
Nadia sighed, "Yeah. I just hope that you and uncle Cloud don't go overboard again."  
  
"What are you talking about!?" Koh said grinning madly, "We did not go overboard!"  
  
"Koh!" Nadia eyed her brother, "You scared three kids so bad that their parents came and complained! Not to mention what you did to all of us!"  
  
"Ah, common! It's halloween!" He jumped onto of a flat rock and looked down at his sister, "You are aloud to scare the crap out of people, expected to play creepy jokes and games," He counted each subject down on his fingers, "Get to dress up however the hell you want, and... the best part... candy. All the candy you can eat."  
  
"And get sick on." Nadia said, "Remember?!"  
  
"No." Koh said innocently, "Did someone get sick?"  
  
Nadia sighed. The previous year Koh had eaten his entire bag of candy within an hour. For the entire next week he was too sick to even get out of bed. He had complained so much and had vowed that he would never eat another piece of candy again. That vow ended one day after he had gotten out of bed.  
  
"Hey..." Nadia thought for a second, "Didn't mom say all of her old friends were coming for a party?"  
  
Koh nodded, "I think so. I can barely remember them; how long ago was it that we last saw them?"  
  
"I dunno." Nadia shook her head, "I remember some of them..."  
  
"Koh! Nadia!" The twins heard their fathers voice fill the Oasis, "Come and eat!"  
  
Koh and Nadia raced down the cliffs and to the front of the waterfall. Koh ran strait through the rushing water as Nadia walked around, as not to get her clothes wet. Once inside, Koh, dripping wet, sat at the table, winning his race with a look of triumph on his face.  
  
**********************************  
  
"Get up Kristen your breakfeast is getting cold.... You too Izumi." Rei's voice filled the halls of the FireBlazers base, "Goji, Lavender and Shiro are already up!"  
  
Kristen groaned and pulled the covers off her head, looking over at the clock... 8 in the morning..... She groaned again as her mothers voice filled the halls.  
  
"Damn it Rei!" She heard her mother scream, "I said five more minutes! You don't have to pour cold water on my face! Im gonna kill you!"  
  
Rei's laugheder echoed through the halls, "Kristen your next if you don't get your butt out of bed!"  
  
"Im up!" The young 17 year old yelled, pushing herself up. She yawned and ran a hand through her short dark blue hair, then dressed into her usual blue jeans and white shirt. Shivering slightly, she put on her spiked belt, then her black gloves. Last but not least she picked up her fathers old leather jacket and put it on.  
  
Kristen yawned again as she walked into the kitchen, where her mother was still fuming and wet. She sat at the table and asked, "What's to eat?"  
  
"Ham and eggs." Lavender answered, serving her a plate, "Shiro and Goji have already eaten and are getting the gustav ready," She checked her watch and said, "Don't forget, we're heading to Rains today for the halloween party."  
  
"Oh yeah." Izumi said looking up from her food, "I forgot today was halloween."  
  
Rei sat down, finnaly done with the cooking, "And today we finaly get to see Rain again. Not to metnion Cloud, Hiro, and the kids."  
  
"They're sixteen now arn't they?" Izumi asked, "Man it's been a long time..."  
  
"I know. I can't believe how fast time has gone by." Rei continued, "When we last saw them, Kristen was only 7."  
  
Just then Goji walked in followed by a young man with spiked black hair and crimson colored eyes. He looked like a younger version of his father, and wore a red muscle shirt and black pants. His face was softer than Goji's was, showing only the tinyest hint of his mother's looks.  
  
"It's ready to go." Goji said, pulling a chair over and sitting, "Shiro and I have got everything."  
  
"Good." Lavender said, "Are the zoids loaded too?"  
  
"Yeah." Shiro said, "Do you know how hard it is to load 6 zoids to a gustav?"  
  
Izumi laughed, "We need to get another one. Rei?"  
  
"Yeah?" Rei asked stuffing his face full of eggs.  
  
"Do we have all the parts we need to build another Gustav?" Izumi asked.  
  
"Um... yeah, except some small ones." Rei answered. He had kept all the old parts that used to be in his guarge and moved them over to the Fire Blazers base."  
  
"Then why don't you call Ryuji and order the parts?" Goji sugested, "While your at it ask if he and his daughter are going."  
  
Rei finished his last bit of ham and nodded, "Alright, I'll call him and place an order." he got up and walked to the phone...  
  
*******************************************  
  
Ryuji answered the phone, "Hello?"  
  
"Hey Ryuji." Rei's voice filled the other line, "So are you two going?"  
  
"To Rains party?" Ryuji asked, "Of course. Ayane is in the shower getting ready at the moment." He sat on a couch in his house, "Any particular reason why you called?"  
  
"Yeah... I wanna order a couple of parts. Im planning on building another Gustav."  
  
"Ok, let me get a pencil..." Ryuji found a pencil and paper, "Ok, what do you need?"  
  
He scribbled down the parts that Rei mentioned and put them in his coat pocket.  
  
"So how much does that come out to?" Rei asked.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Those parts are all relatively cheap so their on the house." Ryuji answered. Ever since he had recovered from his wounds after the Black Death was destroyed, he had become a well known part dealer... and had become quite wealthy. He had met a beautiful young lady named Selena, fallen in love, and had a daughter named Ayane. Unfortunately, Selena had died in the delivery, leaving him to bring up the little girl by himself. Ayane was now 14 years old, and was quite the tomboy.  
  
"Thanks Ryuji. See you Later!" Rei said, hanging up the phone.  
  
Ryuji hung up his phone just as Ayane walked in, running a comb through her chin-length purple hair. "Who was that dad?"  
  
"Rei. He needed some parts and was curious about if we were going to the party."  
  
"Oh." Ayane walked to the fridge and pulled out the milk. She then poured herself a glass and drank. She was wearing a loose red t-shirt, with a loose black leather jacket with torn off sleeves. Her cargo pants were black along with her mettle tipped boots. She had pale skin and her clothes gave her the whole "male goth look." She could easily be mistaken for a very pretty guy... which didn't seem to bother her. Her gray eyes turned to her father, "When are we leaving?"  
  
"Soon." Ryuji answered, "Is the GunGyarados ready?"  
  
The two of them had worked hard to repair the old broken down zoid that Ryuji's "Evil side," Copper, used to use. Ryuji wanted it to be used for a good reason this time, and had entrusted the powerful zoid to his daughter.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
****************************************  
  
"Arn't you Glad Ligar?" Bit asked his Ligar 0, "We get to go see everyone again!"  
  
The zoid roared happily, just as and 18 year old Rion walked into the hanger of the hover cargo, "Hey dad." Rion had Golden blond hair and bright green eyes just like his father. He wore a black turtleneck undershirt with a tan overshirt and maroon pants. His boots were tan and his golden knuckled gloves were white, "Mom and Grandpa want to know if the zoids are ready. Will says that Ori and Jemie are ready too."  
  
"Ligar and the other zoids are all ready. Check your zoid out, make sure it's ready before we go." Bit said with another roar coming from the Ligar 0. Rion smiled, "Hi Ligar!"  
  
The ligar growled, his way of saying hello.  
  
Rion walked over to his zoid, a white Blade Ligar that his grandfather had bought for him on his 16th birthday. It had jet black blades and crimson red eyes, and three extra blades on the tip of the tail. He made sure it was ready then yelled over to Bit, "Im going to tell mom and Grandpa we're all ready."  
  
Rion walked out of the hanger and down one of the halls, accidentally running into Will, "Sorry."  
  
"That's ok, So is everything set?" Will asked, his soft gray eyes peering out from his glasses. Will had brown hair and was 16 years old. He had on a yellow long sleeved shit and white cargo pants, along with a pair of brown regular boots.  
  
"Yeah." Rion answered, "The ligar 0 even seems as excited about this party as mom and dad do."  
  
"According to my mom they haven't seen their friends for ten years... they've kept in touch of course, but haven't actually seen each other. I also heard Doc say that he was planning on challenging the Sky Raiders to a battle."  
  
"Really?" Rion's face lit up, "Think he'll let us fight?"  
  
"I dunno..."  
  
The two continued their conversation as they made their way to the main computer room to inform the good doctor that they were ready to take off.  
  
*****************************************  
  
"Are you ready Tyra?" Leon asked. He had just finished packing the Gustav.  
  
"Yeah." Tyra nodded, "Naomi and Brad said they'll be ready to go in a sec."  
  
"Ok. Are you ready Hikari?" Leon turned to his 14 year old daughter. Hikari had Light brown hair and eyes, and was kind of tall for her age. She wore a lavender shirt and black sorts, with high black boots.  
  
"Im ready. We're taking the zoids right dad?"  
  
"Yeah." Leon answered, "and their already loaded, all we're waiting on now is Naomi and Brad."  
  
"We're ready," Brad said as he and Naomi both walked out of the base.  
  
"Good. Lets get going then." Tyra said, "It shouldn't take us too long to get their."  
  
The Flugel team piled into their red gustav and took off, heading in the direction of the Waterfall base.  
  
*************************************  
  
Zack flew over the hot desert sands in his Bahamut 0, his son's Lightning Siax traveling not far behind. His wife, April, had decided to stay home, and look after everything there.  
  
A screen blinked on, revealing Zacks son, Jessie, "He dad?" Jessie had spiked dark green hair and wine colored eyes, and was tall and thin, yet intimidating looking. He was 18 years old, and wore a blue sleeveless shirt and jeans. His gloves were wine red, with silver spikes on the knuckles.  
  
"Yeah?" Zack asked.  
  
"You said this is a party right?" Jessie asked mischievously.  
  
"No your not allowed to drink." Zack answered, knowing exactly what his son was getting at.  
  
"Damn." Jessie closed the com-link with a laugh and smile.  
  
Zack grinned humorously. It would only be a short time until he saw all of his old friends again, and he couldn't wait.  
  
***************************  
  
"Psssst! Koh, get over here." Cloud whispered from around a corner at his young nephew.  
  
Koh took the hint and walked over to his uncle, "What is it?"  
  
"We have to get some good tricks and jokes in this year kid." Cloud said with a wide grin, "Especially since everyone will be here. Im counting on you to help me out."  
  
Koh grinned mischievously, "What did you have in mind?"  
  
"Hehe, you'll love this." Cloud went about explaining his idea to Koh, quietly so that Hiro, Rain or Nadia wouldn't hear.  
  
~~~~~~~End of chapter one~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hope you liked it. I know it wasn't a very good chap, but that was because I was trying to fit in all the characters. Next chapter will be much better I promise. I wanted to get this chapter up by halloween too. Enjoy!  
  
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 


	2. Tarantula

Authors note: Thanks for all the great reviews, and Im happy that you liked it. I hope everyone had a happy halloween and got lots of candy! (I did! *Pulls a reeses out of thin air and begins to munch*) Anywho, heres chapter 2!  
  
CHAPTER 2  
  
"You got it?" Cloud asked, his eyes dancing mischievously.  
  
"Yeah." Koh nodded, "But mom hates spiders..."  
  
"I know." Cloud seemed as excited as an eleven year old on the first day of summer vacation. He clapped his hands together and over-dramatically said, "It will be the best gag ever."  
  
"You know, moms gonna be pretty pissed off at you." Koh said, the same look of mischief on his face.  
  
"Nah. Rain's pretty good at taking jokes." Cloud said, "Come-on and i'll show him to you."  
  
Koh followed Cloud down the hall and into the older zoid pilots room. Cloud looked down the hallway and noticed that nobody was coming. He then shut the door and locked it, motioning for Koh to take a seat in the bed. Koh nodded and complied.  
  
Cloud then went to his dresser and opened one of the drawers. He grinned and pulled out a small, clear, glass container, then carried it over to Koh.  
  
Koh gasped. Inside the container had to be the biggest tarantula that he had ever seen. He turned to his uncle and sarcastically said, "Don't you think it's going a bit... oh I dunno... overboard? Even for you?"  
  
Cloud took a seat next to his nephew and said, "Koh, Koh, Koh... haven't I taught you anything? It's called "sibling rivalry" and it lasts until your old and gray. I'm your mom's older brother... Im expected to play mean jokes on her." He grinned, "Plus she deserves it after what she made me do the last time everyone showed up for a little get together. I'll never forget that day 10 years ago."  
  
"Your holding a grudge from 10 years ago!?" Koh exclaimed, "Why?!"  
  
"Your mom made me watch all of you." Cloud said, "All the whiny little brats! You guy's were monsters when you were little. I had to watch ALL of you. It was almost literally hell on earth."  
  
"Hey... I think I remember that..." Koh said, grinning, "Didn't you end up locking us in a closet telling us it was a new version of hide and seek?"  
  
"Yeah..." Cloud scratched the back of his head, "I had enough of all the little cries of "Im hungry" or "im cold" or "I'm tired"... so I told you we were going to play a game called Closet hide and seek." He laughed, "I told you that if you stayed perfectly still and quiet, your mom and the others wouldn't be able to find you..."  
  
Koh laughed and pushed a strand of his long sliver hair behind his ear, "But, still, that is a big spider."  
  
Cloud laughed and said, "I know. You have to keep this quiet Koh, even from Nadia. If she were to find out she'd run strait to your mom."  
  
Cloud got up to put the spider away.... but in his hurry he accidentally dropped the container. It was like slow motion as the two trouble makers watched the glass container fall through the air. Cloud tried to grab it but it slipped from his grasp...  
  
The glass shattered and the spider made a mad dash under Clouds bed. Both Koh and Cloud dove after it, accidentally smacking right into each other. "Damn!" They both cried at the same time, rubbing their heads.  
  
"Help me turn the bed on it's side!" Cloud said.  
  
The two of them lifted the bed onto its side, then gasped in horror as they watched the large, hairy tarantula dash into a hole in the wall.  
  
"Shit." Was the only thing Cloud could manage to get through his lips. He then went into a small cursing fit and said, "My plan is ruined AND we have a huge tarantula running free through the base!" He turned to Koh, "Common we have to find it... the room on the other side of the wall is yours so lets go check it out."  
  
Just then the doorbell rang, and both Cloud and Koh's faces went pail. The guests were already arriving. That meant that they had no time to look for the spider...  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Rain opened the door and smiled as she saw who it was.  
  
"Hello Rain! Long time no see!" Rei said warmly, "How's it been?" Izumi was standing next to him, and behind them stood Goji and Lavender.  
  
"Hey you guy's. Come on in." Rain let them in and said, "Where are the kids?"  
  
"Trying to drown each other in the waterfall probably." Izumi answered blankly. She smiled and said, "So how's life been treaten ya?"  
  
"Pretty good." Rain said, just as two soaking wet teenagers approached the door. Shiro was scowling and Kristen had a smile on her face.  
  
"Damn it, Kristen!" Shiro said angrily, "That was not cool."  
  
Kristen laughed, "Your right. It was cold."  
  
"That's not what I meant!" Shiro growled, "I didn't mean the water."  
  
Rain grinned and said, "It's been a long time since I saw you two."  
  
Shiro and Kristen stopped arguing and turned their attention to Rain.  
  
"Did you guy's bring your zoids?" Rain asked.  
  
"Yeah." Goji said, "They're at the gustav."  
  
"Then go ahead and take them into the hanger, there's plenty of room in there." Rain instructed, "Then you guy's can come up into the main room. I'll be waiting for you in there."  
  
The others all nodded and left, heading back to the gustav. They each got in their separate cockpits and took them through the waterfall.  
  
Rain watched through the glass wall as they all came into the hanger. She was amazed by both Kristen and Shiro's zoids.  
  
Kristens zoid was a custom built fox type zoid. 'Rei must have built it for her' Rain thought. The fox was dark purple, with three separate tails. It had a laser-canon on it's back, and what seemed to be titanium alloy claws and teeth. On its shoulders were two gatling-guns, and inside it's mouth was a beam laser.  
  
Shiro's zoid was also amazing. It was obviously a human type, and was painted dark blue and black, and had bright orange eyes. On its back was a type of bow, that looked to Rain like it used a type of energy charged arrows. Along its arms it had retractable blades, and what looked like a dagger on the side of its arm.  
  
"Wow." Rain said, "I bet they make one heck of a team." She turned and saw both Cloud and Koh shuffle into the room, their faces pale and a fake look of innocence written on them. Rain couldn't help but smile. Koh reminded her allot of Cloud, not only by how he acted, but how he looked and talked as well.  
  
"What are you two up too?" Rain demanded, a smile still on her face.  
  
"Nothing. Why would you think that sis?" Cloud said innocently.  
  
"Mom, where's dad and Nadia?" Koh asked, noticing neither of them present.  
  
"They went to the store to get some snacks and stuff." Rain said, "Why?"  
  
"I was just curious." Koh said, walking over to look down on the incoming zoids, "Oh wow!"  
  
Cloud came over and looked down, "Those are some pretty unique zoids."  
  
"I know. They look pretty powerful as well." Rain added, "I can't help but admire the fox type one."  
  
Goji and Lavender were the first to enter the room, followed not to far behind by the others. They noticed Koh and Cloud.  
  
"Hello Cloud!" Lavender said giving Cloud a small hug, "It's been awhile!" She then turned to Koh, "And who is this handsome young man. Koh I presume?"  
  
Koh blushed slightly, and shook her hand, "Yeah."  
  
The doorbell rang again and Rain excused herself to go answer it. She walked down the hallways and to the door. Opening it, she saw that it was Zack and his son Jessie.  
  
"Hello Zack." Rain said, "And your Jessie, right?"  
  
Jessie smiled, "Yes. Hi."  
  
"How are you Rain?" Zack asked, stepping inside and following Rain down the hall, Jessie not far behind him.  
  
"Im fine, what about you Zack?"  
  
"Im doing well." Zack said, "April decided to stay at the base, and take care of things."  
  
"All right," Rain said, "You two make yourselves at home. Rei, Izumi, Goji, Lavender, Kristen and Shiro are already here." She paused, "Oh, did you bring your zoids?"  
  
"Yeah," Jessie said.  
  
"Then you may want to put them in the hanger. You know the way Zack, meet us back in the main room when your finished alright?"  
  
"Ok. We'll be back." Zack and Jessie left to put their zoids in the hanger.  
  
Rain walked into the main room and chuckled as Kristen and Shiro were amazed at the glass wall. The two of them were looking down, enjoying the view of all the zoids, and gasping at the bahamut as it entered. Koh joined them, also amazed by the dragon type zoid.  
  
"Jeeze mom. That's the only dragon type zoid I've seen besides yours... and a couple of reddlers." Koh said.  
  
Rain sat on the couch, laughed and said, "That's the bahamut. What is Jessie piloting?"  
  
"A customized Lightning Siax." Koh answered.  
  
"I like the red and black iron kong that's down there." Kristen said, "And the black and teal Konig wolf."  
  
"The iron kong is mine." Koh bragged, "It's got enforced spiked hands, and two beam guns on each one. It's also got other weapons."  
  
"And I take it the Konig wolf is Nadia's?" Goji asked curiously.  
  
"Yeah." Rain said, "It's main weapons are its enforced teeth and claws, and it has a removable beam canon. In it's mouth we installed a EC canon. It's a special type of canon that sends an electrical impulse through the opponent zoid, having a 50/50 chance of freezing it completely. But, it's a hard weapon to use and has only a 75-85% accuracy. We also imputed a shield generator."  
  
"That's a powerful Konig wolf," Zack said, entering the room. "I like the black armor with the teal and blue stripes."  
  
"Yes, Koh and Nadia both chose their zoids." Rain explained, "So they also got to choose the colors."  
  
They chatted a while until the doorbell rang and Rain ran to see who it was.... Koh and Cloud were still worried about the tarantula, and had disappeared to go look for it....  
  
~~~~~~~End of chapter 2~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hey, Hope you enjoy it.  
  
Oh and Himeko... I named Kristen after my friend Kristen, It was just a coincidence that it's your name too.... though it is a strange one! lol. 


	3. The necklace

Authors note: Thanks again for all the great reviews. I really do hope you are enjoying the story so far and I promise that it will get better eventually....  
  
Oh and if your interested, I posted a story in the Chrono Cross section called Scars left by time. If anybody is a fan of Chrono Cross, please read and review it.  
  
Anywho, here's chapter 3!  
  
CHAPTER 3  
  
Rain opened the door and saw the next guests to arrive, Ryuji and Ayane.  
  
"Hello you two." Rain said, "Ryuji, did you bring the GunGyarados?"  
  
"Yeah," Ryuji said.  
  
"Then why don't you put it in the hanger. You can meet us in the main room when your done, since you already know where it is." She turned to Ayane, "Your Ayane, right?"  
  
Ayane nodded, "Yeah."  
  
"Ok. Come on, I'll show you to the main room."  
  
Rain took Ayane to the main room where the other three teenagers were already talking excitedly about the now entering GunGyarados. The group each made their introductions and the kids stayed at the glass wall, watching all the incoming zoids. The adults all sat and talked. The only two not present were Cloud and Koh, who, at the moment, just happened to be looking for the big harry tarantula they had accidentally let loose.  
  
Eventually everyone arrived, and their was quite a collection of zoids in the hanger. Leon, Naomi, and hikari's zoids were the last ones in. Hikari piloted a beautiful yellow shield Ligar, with brilliant violet eyes.  
  
The Blitz team kept their zoids in the hover cargo, but according to Doctor Tauros, Will piloted a dark green Raynos, and he piloted it quite well. They were still unsure as to if he was a third generation wild eagle. Rion piloted his white Blade Ligar with black blades. It had extra blades on the end of it's tail, and was quite a sight to see.  
  
Koh and Cloud soon returned to the group, as pale faced as ever, and unsuccessful in finding their lost spider. They made their introductions and looked at all the unique zoids in the hanger, then sat and began to chit-chat.  
  
Rion, Kristen and Koh immediately became quick friends, and began talking about all the times they had been in trouble.  
  
Shiro, Will and Hikari had also become good friends, each laughing and talking about various strategies and battles they had fought.  
  
Ayane sat in a chair by herself, looking down at the collection of zoids and thinking to herself. She watched as a new Gustav suddenly appeared inside the hanger, and two people stepped out. One, the girl, had long silver hair, while the other, was a man that had flaming red hair and was quite tall. The each carried three or four bags filled with snacks and junk food, and were talking and laughing about something. She then saw a small organoid run out to them, take some of the bags away from the girl, and carry them along side the two humans.  
  
Nadia and Hiro walked in, made their introductions, and put away the food. Some of the adults made comments about how pretty Nadia was, making her blush. She and Lightstrike quickly made their way to her room, to put away something she had bought for herself.  
  
Nadia opened the door to her room and walked in, LightStrike following at her heals. She turned on the light and looked at her desk. She had inherited her drawing skill from her mother, and various pictures and papers lay scattered on top of her desk. She then removed the present she had bought for Koh as a happy birthday. It was already wrapped in dark red paper, with golden ribbons. She would put it in his room later. Placing it on her desk she turned to leave when she noticed something on her bed.  
  
It was a small box, wrapped in light blue paper with a silver ribbon. She plopped down on her bed and examined the box.  
  
LightStrike sat on the bed next to her and watched curiously as she unwrapped the present. She removed all the wrapping paper and ribbons, then looked at the plain as can be wooden box. She opened it and found a small card inside, along with the most beautiful purple necklace she had ever seen.  
  
The necklace, that was shaped in the form of a small yin-yang, with a phoenix carved in the background, was a clear, soft shade of purple. It had a sliver chain that had various purple crystals, obviously made of the same stone the yin-yang was, and it seemed to have a strange soft, barely noticeable glow. Then she noticed that there were other stones of various shades of blue. These stones were in the small circle parts of the yin- yang, and also along the chain.  
  
Nadia and LightStrike sat in awe for at least a minute longer, then the young teenager remembered the card. She fumbled to get it open then read aloud so the organoid could hear:  
  
"Nadia. Happy birthday and I hope you like it. I spent every penny I had to get it made. The blue stones are Lopaz Lazuli. Mom said you liked the color so I picked them out. The other, purple stones are something that took me forever to find. They are made of Zoid magnite, and the jeweler who made it for me had the hardest time shaping it. Happy Birthday... Love, Koh."  
  
Nadia gasped. Zoid magnite was supposed to be very, very rare and expensive.  
  
"How did he ever get enough money to buy that?" Nadia said aloud. She flipped the card over and read, "P.S. Mom, Dad and Uncle Cloud helped pay for it. you should thank them too."  
  
Nadia then giggled. Her mother, father and uncle had also helped her pay for the present she had bought for Koh. 'They must be almost broke!' She thought to herself. She then told LightStrike, "Im going to join the others now and thank Koh, Mom, Dad and Uncle Cloud. Can you do me a favor?"  
  
LightStrike roared happily and nodded.  
  
"Will you go take Koh's present to his room? I want it to be a surprise so I don't want him to see me... ok?"  
  
LightStrike jumped off of her bed and rushed over to her desk, picking up the small wrapped box in his mouth carefully. He trotted out of the room and down the hallway, towards Koh's room.  
  
Nadia put her new necklace on and went out to join the others. She stood at the edge of the room and motioned for Koh to come over. He complied and the walked out of sight of the guests. He saw that she was wearing the necklace and smiled.  
  
"I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone." She gave him a small hug, "Thanks Koh. I love it allot."  
  
Koh grinned, "You should thank mom, dad, and uncle Cloud. They paid for the majority of it. Haven't you noticed how many battles they've been participating it lately? They've been using all the prize money to pay for that!"  
  
Nadia nodded, "Now that you mention it, they have been in allot of battles." She smiled. What Koh didn't know was that they had also been battling to help pay for his gift.  
  
The two went back to the party, and Nadia seemed to become good friends almost instantly with Shiro, Will and Hikari.  
  
Ayane still stayed by herself, adding into various conversations every once and a while. She listened and snacked mostly, finding out a lot of useful information from the adults conversations.  
  
After a while Doctor Tauros stood up and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. For how old he was now he seemed as upbeat and enthusiastic as he always did. "Sky raiders team! I challenge you to a zoid battle!"  
  
Rain and Cloud looked at each other and grinned, "Under what rules?" Rain asked.  
  
"Ummm." Doctor Tauros scratched his head, "I hadn't thought about that..."  
  
Rain laughed just as most the blitz and Flugel teams stared at the Doctor. Jemie sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Ok Tauros." Rain stated, "how about all of your team, against all of ours? Unlimited ammo, and conversions allowed?"  
  
"Ok!" Doctor Tauros stated, "I'll call the ZBC and register the battle!"  
  
Tauros called the ZBC form the Hover Cargo, registered the battle and returned.  
  
"So when's the battle going to take place?" Rain asked.  
  
"In 3 hours!" Tauros stated as happily as one of the zoid warriors themselves.  
  
The group continued to chit-chat, some even making bets on which team would win the upcoming battle....  
  
Cloud and Koh just hoped the could find their spider before someone else did....  
  
~~~~~~~end of chapter 3~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hey, hope you liked the chap. It's kinda short, sorry about that. I just really got the urge to go play Pikmin for the GameCube... and I thought this was a good place to end the chap.  
  
As for my Chrono Cross story, I hope some of you will take the time to read it... you don't have to if you don't want to though...  
  
Please Review! 


	4. Approaching evil?

Heres a little scene to go along with my authors note just to show you how me and my sister get along... and how she fits the part of Gabrielle quite well I might add. She helped me come up with the authors note too.  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry for not updating in a while, I've been busy... really I have! I swear! After all I've got school, friends, games, and my sisters basketball games to go to. So I've just been really busy! I swear!  
  
**little sister walks up and reads authors note, then says, "Ummm Cha..."  
  
** I cover her mouth** "Shhhhh, im Luna remember!? Do not use my real name..." **I uncover her mouth** now what do you want?!"  
  
**Points to authors note** "Thats not true Cha... I mean Luna..."** She roles her eyes** the computer froze as you were saving the chapter last time, remember. Then you went into a cursing spree, and vowed to never use the stupid computer again since it was the third time you had tried to type out the chapter... you have been sitting on your lazy butt since like, two Saturdays ago complaining about the computer. You never left the couch and watched Cowboy Bebop and DBZ continuously. You only left for school..."  
  
** I stare at her evily, **"Gabrielle, I was trying to come up with a "good" excuse and you ruined it."  
  
**Gabrielle looks at me blankly,** Oh. Um... Can I get on the computer now?"  
  
**I continue to stare evilly** "NO!" **Shoves sister away** Go away..."  
  
**She gets mad at me** BRAT! **Looks at all you reviewers** HEY ALL OF MY SISTERS REVIEWERS, WANNA KNOW HER REAL NAME!?"  
  
** I Hit Gabrielle** Shut up already!"  
  
**Gabrielle looks terribly hurt.**  
  
**I look at her and feel bad** "Im sorry Gabby..."  
  
** She gets tears in her eyes as she begins to turn and walk away... she pauses as she reaches the door that leads outside. She suddenly turns her head to face me, a look of menacing evil crosses her young, 11 year old face** "FINE THEN............ CHANTEL!"  
  
**I throw a book at her head as she escapes outside** @_@ "Stupid sister..."  
  
Anyways, that's my excuse... and to my reviewers...  
  
Himeko: You can call me anything you want! '^_^'  
  
Thanks Angel for the correction. I wasn't sure as how to spell it so I just guessed '^_^'  
  
Oh yeah, my friend Glitch just posted a really neat story that has allot of cool RPG characters, both good and bad, so check it out. It's called Dark Planet 1: Revival. It's got a clever plot that has allot of potential.  
  
Anywho... onwards to chapter 4!  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 4  
  
Time began to pass rather quickly as the entire group awaited the battle. As the time of the fight drew near, the two teams began to prepare their zoids. The Blitz team had gone into their Hover Cargo, while the Sky Raiders prepared in the hanger of the waterfall base. Koh and Cloud continued to look for the spider, until it was time to get their zoids ready.  
  
"Good Luck Rain." Hiro wished upon his wife. He hugged her tight and then turned to his two children, "You two better fight hard. I'll be rooting for you!"  
  
"Thanks dad." Nadia said as she climbed into the cockpit of her Konig wolf. She gave him a thumbs up as the roof closed, concealing her inside. She began to leave the hanger.  
  
"Don't worry dad. Im sure I can kick these guys' a..." Koh began, but caught himself just as he heard his father say, "Watch your mouth Koh."  
  
Koh ran over to his Iron Kong and climbed up, closing the cockpit behind him. He then proceeded to follow his sister out.  
  
"Soooo," Hiro looked up to face Rain, who was now sitting inside her cockpit, amused by the situation of Koh almost saying a relatively bad word right in front of his father, "Do you think Koh and Nadia will make it through?"  
  
"I don't know," Rain shrugged, "The Blitz team is an amazing team... who knows how their new members fight... plus they are the kids of Bit, Leena, Jemie and Orihime.."  
  
Just then Cloud in his newly rebuilt silver Blade Ligar trotted up besides Rain, "I take it your going to hitch a ride with one of the others...?"  
  
Hiro nodded, "Yeah, I want to watch the fight up close and Rei said I can hitch a ride with him. Good luck on the battle field."  
  
"Thanks. Lets go Rain, LightStrike," Cloud closed his cockpit and turned toward the exit, his silver organoid partner walking just besides his Blade Ligar.  
  
"See ya after the fight!" Rain smiled, closing her cockpit and catching up with Cloud.  
  
Everyone made their way to the not so far away battlefield. Rain did some double checking that all of her controls were working correctly, then she contacted both Koh and Nadia.  
  
"I want you two to be careful... the Blitz team is an amazing team." Rain told her two 16 year olds, "and they have both Jemie and Orihime coming up with battle plans."  
  
"Alright mom. I'll be careful." Nadia waved and closed the com-link.  
  
"Don't worry mom. Im gonna chew them up and spit 'em out. You'll see." With that Koh's face disappeared from the small screen, and Rain sighed. Koh had an amazing knack for being cocky when it came to zoid battles.  
  
Clouds face appeared where Koh's used to be, "Hey sis."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You do know we're at a disadvantage... right?" He sighed, "It's 5 vs. 4."  
  
"Your point?"  
  
"Just making sure you knew..." Cloud said, then jokingly added, "After all, your the one who so hastily accepted this match against the legendary Blitz team..."  
  
"So... you don't think we can win?" Rain asked, a slight smile crept into her features.  
  
Cloud grinned, "No... I know we can win."  
  
"Good." Rain closed the com-link and looked ahead. They were closing in on the battlefield, and the hover cargo was waiting.  
  
The Sky Raiders team all came to a stop, now awaiting the judge. Everyone who wasn't in the fight stood on top of a cliff, looking down at the two teams. The five Blitz team zoids exited the Hover cargo, and stood quite a distance away from their opponents.  
  
"All right everyone." Doctor Tauros' voice filled everyone's intercoms, "Here comes the judge capsule."  
  
The warriors all looked up and saw that he was right, a small glowing speck appeared in the atmosphere, and grew larger and larger as it approached the earth. It crashed into the ground, and rose out of it's crater, reveling the judge.  
  
"The area within a 15 mile radius is a designated zoid battlefield. All unauthorized personnel must evacuate the area." The judge stated," I repeat, the area within a 15 mile radius is a designated zoid battlefield. All unauthorized personnel must evacuate the area."  
  
The warriors stood face to face, except for the two Raynos' who were circling above head. They all listened their hands gripping the controls tightly, their bodies tensed. All they needed was the judge to give the go- ahead then they would charge at each other in full force. The adults all knew that it was going to be a tough fight... and the kids just wanted to start fighting.  
  
"Blitz team vs. Sky Raiders team..." The judge called.  
  
Rain gripped her controls, ready to leap to Clouds aid and give LightStrike time to fuse with the core of the Blade Ligar.  
  
"Ready..." The judge rose his arms, one blue and one red.  
  
Each warrior held their breath, and tensed slightly, their hands tightly gripping their controls, all of them ready to tear into their opponents. On the sidelines the others sat eagerly awaiting and watching.  
  
"FIGHT" The zoids were moving even before he had brought his arms down.  
  
Bit rushed at Cloud, wanting to get to him before the organoid had a chance to fuse. He was only five, maybe ten meters away when a large black zoid came out of nowhere and tackled him from the side. The Ligar 0 roared ferociously as it tried to tear itself free from the grasp of none other than Kaiser. Bit cursed as he was pinned down by the dragon, it's large claws holding his Ligar by the side and leg, "Damn it."  
  
Kaiser dug its claws deeper into the Ligar 0's sides, roaring harshly as it did so. Rain opened a com-link with her brother, "Hurry up Cloud, LightStrike! I can't hold him forev... ahhhhh." She was cut off suddenly when a white Blade Ligar headbutted Kaiser in the side, sending it off it's opponent and into a large cliff face.  
  
"Thanks Rion." Bit said to his son, bringing the Ligar to its feet, "But be careful because now Rain's gonna want to go for you." The Ligar 0 turned to face Cloud, only to find him gone. Bit looked around quickly, not seeing his target anywhere, "Damn where did he go!?"  
  
Cloud had rushed to his right, now that he had his organoid partner with him, strait towards a set of cliffs that Bit was standing right next to. He jumped, just as the Ligar 0 looked around for him, and pushed off the wall of the cliffs, bringing him slightly to the side and above the Ligar 0.  
  
Jemie instantly saw what was going on and said, "Bit above you!" But it was too late. Bit looked up just as Cloud came down with his claws, completely knocking the Ligar 0 off it's feet and into the sands. The silver Blade ligar was on him in an instant, and within a few seconds the two Ligars were wrestling each other, one tumbling over the other while both bit and scratched at each other, like two lions. Except these two lions were extremely big lions that wouldn't give up until it had brought it's opponent down.  
  
*****************  
  
Koh cursed as another barrage of missiles were dropped on him from the sky. He tried to shoot at them, but the two Raynos' were far to fast and were circling back and forth, not following any sort of pattern.  
  
He fired a shot at Jemie, missed, then cursed again as he was covered in another set of missiles.  
  
Jemie smiled. He had pretty much accepted the Wild Eagle that was inside of him now, and no longer hesitated to bring him out. He went into a dive, shattering the sound barrier and summoning the ace aerial pilot, the Wild Eagle. Just before hitting the ground the Wild Eagle pulled up on the controls, now flying only feet above the scorching desert sands. He rushed at Koh at amazing speed, the sonic boom that was created defining to the ear.  
  
Koh didn't have time to even think as the Raynos approached. He felt the full blast of the speed just as he reached out one of his iron Kong's hands, grabbing the tip of the Raynos's wing just as it passed. Both zoids were sent violently to the ground and the Iron Kong's cockpit shattered. Jemie's zoid tumbled along the ground, hitting hard. Jemie's head slammed against the control panel, and he was rendered completely unconscious.  
  
Koh opened his eyes, cursing as a surge of pain shot through his left arm. He reached over with his right hand and touched it, feeling hot, sticky, crimson red blood gush out of a large cut on his strong upper arm. He looked at it and immediately wished he hadn't. Even though he could tell it looked worse than it really was, it was still a sickening sight. Suddenly his thoughts trailed to the battle. Looking at his screen he saw, the words "Command System Freeze" flash in light blue letters.  
  
"Damn!" Koh cursed then thought, 'Well that was a pretty stupid move though... why the hell did I grab onto the Raynos' wing?' He looked around, trying to see what he had cut his arm on, he noticed that part of the shattered cockpit glass was jutting inward, and had blood stained on it. "Figures." He said to himself.  
  
Will looked down at his father and called, "Dad, Dad are you ok?" He didn't receive an answer and cursed, opening a com-link with the other Raynos. He saw that his Jemie was unconscious, and a large cut was gushing blood on his head, "Damn." He looked around and noticed Leena was having trouble with a Konig wolf. Deciding he couldn't help his father anymore he flew toward the Gun Sniper, ready to come to its aid.  
  
Leena cursed. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't hit the Black Konig wolf with with her total weasel unit assault. It was just to fast.  
  
Nadia smiled as she approached the Gun Sniper, and continued to dodge various shells from the heavily armed zoid. So far Leena had gone back to the hover cargo 3 times to reload, and Nadia wasn't going to let her do it again.  
  
Leena's eyes widened as Nadia rushed her, ready to deliver the final blow. She shut her eyes tightly, and braced herself... only, nothing happened. She cringed when she heard Will's voice over the intercom, "What the heck are you waiting for Leena! Open fire!"  
  
Leena opened her eyes and saw that Nadia was stuck inside the falling shelling that the Raynos was releasing, keeping it almost perfectly still. The red head smiled as she yelled, "Got ya now little wolf! Total Weasel Unit Assault!"  
  
Nadia cursed inwardly as she saw the Gun Sniper let loose its missiles, "Only one chance left to take her out!" She said to herself. The Konig Wolf opened its mouth wide, baring it's EC cannon. Hot light-blue electrical energy gathered in the Wolfs mouth, sparking various directions. The center of the energy turned a pale white, and shot outward at the Gun Sniper just before the Konig Wolf buckled under the assault of the Weasel unit.  
  
"Yeah! Take that! Hell yeah!" Leena cheered, watching as the sand and smoke engulfed her opponent. She suddenly cursed when the smoke parted, and a bright blue and white light rushed at her, completely engulfing her Gun Sniper. Electrical Charges flowed through the zoid, shorting out all its joints and controls. "Damn!" She looked down at her screen and saw that everything had frozen, bright blue letters saying, "Command System Freeze."  
  
Will sighed. At least they had managed to take out the Konig wolf too. He opened a com-link with Leena, "You ok?"  
  
"Yeah kid, im fine. Go help Rion and Bit." Leena answered, a bit bummed out about loosing.  
  
Will gave her a thumbs up and sped off towards the other warriors.  
  
Each person on the sidelines was completely enticed by the battle, nobody noticed anything approaching on their radar's...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I decided to leave it there just cuz I felt like it... don't hate me! Im going to try and post the next chapter *very* soon, maybe even later today. So don't worry about the cliffy. Oh and I never did catch my sister... she's one hell of a runner.  
  
**Gabrielle pokes her head in the door** "Um Chantel?"  
  
**I look at her evilly,** "What?"  
  
**She gulps** "Im really sorry... can I get on the computer now?"  
  
**Yells* NO!  
  
My sister is a complete computer hog, and Im sure some of you know what I mean if you have brothers or sisters. It's also part of the reason I can't update as much as I want. That's why I had her help me come up with the authors note at the start of the chapter. Anyways, I really hope you have enjoyed the battle so far.  
  
I love writing battle scenes I think they are so fun to write... anyways, please review!  
  
(I went and saw Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last night and I loved it! I just hated the people behind me cuz they kept pulling back and kicking my seat on purpose... then they wouldn't shut up so my sister turned around and yelled at them... yes my 11 year old sister turned and yelled at a bunch of bitchy 16 year olds.... they stopped for a while then kept doing it again...) 


	5. Sin's apearence

Authors note: Hey, thanks again for the reviews cuz I really love them. Anyways, hope you enjoy!  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
Rain looked around her... where had that white Blade Ligar gone? She searched everywhere, and had almost given up on finding it when she noticed a zoid approaching her from behind. Seeing that is was the Blade Ligar she smiled. She pretended that she hadn't seen him, and continued to look around.  
  
Rion laughed. All he would have to do is sneak up from behind his opponent, and take it down. He could probably do it in one easy blow if he timed himself right. The Ligar leapt into the air just as his its sharp claws began to glow a soft shade of reddish yellow. "This is going to be easy..." Rion said to himself, completely convinced that he had already won. He was wrong.  
  
Rain waited till the last second before she swung the Kaiser's tail, completely taking Rion off guard and opening a large gash down the Blade Ligars side. Rion pushed his zoid to his feet and saw that Rain had turned the Kaiser around so that it was now facing him.  
  
"You've got a lot to learn kid..." Rain said, "It's pretty dangerous to try and sneak up on an alert zoid like my Kaiser... especially if they have a strong, bladed tail."  
  
"Thanks for the advice..." Rion said angrily, "I won't make the same mistake twice..." He rushed at the Kaiser, suddenly finding that it was no longer standing in front of him. He heard a large explosion and looked up, seeing that the dragon had taken flight and had begun it's assault on the dark green Raynos that Will piloted.  
  
Will cringed as Kaiser flew above him, swinging it's long bladed tail and striking his Raynos on the back. He elevated, trying to get above Rain, who always seemed to be one step ahead of him. She too elevated, circling around her opponent as she did so. Suddenly she circled in closer, extending the blades on the tips of the Kaisers wings.  
  
Will went into a short dive, barely dodging the deadly blade. Rion's face appeared on his com-link, "Will, she ain't stupid."  
  
"I think I've noticed that Rion." Will said, dodging as Rain came strait at him again. The two continued their fight, circling each other and watching their opponents every move. They continued to elevate, taking them extremely high off the ground.  
  
"Will, be careful, your pretty high up!" Rion called, watching as the two aerial zoids continued to rise. A cloud passed and he could no longer see them.  
  
"You think I don't know that!?" Will yelled, "This is higher than I've ever been, thank you very much, and it's scaring the living crap out of me!"  
  
"Shesh!" Rion yelled back, "Im sorry, just be careful, a fall from that height wouldn't be pretty!"  
  
"I know!" Will began to get annoyed.  
  
"Calm down, Will." Doctor Tauros's voice suddenly filled his intercom, his face appearing on a screen in front of him, "Rain is used to being high up, and she probably knows that you aren't. She's trying to get you spooked so that you can't pilot as well as you normally would. Try to descend."  
  
Will took a few breaths as he continued to circle Rain, "Ok, Doc. But she won't let me go any lower... I can't descend at all with her circling me like she is... it's at an angle so that if I dived, she could easily get me..."  
  
"Just remember, Will... she probably doesn't want to fall from that height either..." Doctor Tauros said reassuringly. He looked over at Ori, who had a hint of worry in her eyes.  
  
*********************  
  
Meanwhile the two Ligars continued to wrestle each other, and they were both battered quite a bit. Cloud jumped off of the Ligar 0 just before it slashed at him with its claws.  
  
"Man, Cloud... You've gotten better." Bit said, a grin on his face.  
  
"So have you Bit." Cloud urged his silver Blade Ligar forward, rushing at the Ligar 0 at top speed. Bit also began to charge, "But," Cloud sighed and just before the wo zoids hit each other he ducked and pulled left, expanding his blades sideways and slicing the Ligar 0 in the two front legs, "Not quite enough."  
  
The Ligar 0 stumbled over it's own front legs, but before hitting the ground it managed to swing it's strike laser claw at the Blade Ligars neck. Both zoids collapsed in a heap, both pilots laughing. Bit climbed out of the cockpit and over to Clouds.  
  
Cloud opened his cockpit as Bit approached. Both pilots had grins on their faces, and they shook each others hands heartily.  
  
"Nice work Bit Cloud." Cloud stated, running a hand through his silver hair, "I didn't think you'd get me in the end like that."  
  
Bit laughed, "Your just getting slow in your old age Cloud Light-Feather."  
  
Cloud looked at him, "Old? Im not old."  
  
"Your 42 and I say that's old." Bit said, "But not as old as Doc, and you don't still play with zoid models."  
  
"How many does he have now?" Cloud asked.  
  
"Who knows. He almost killed Rion the other day for accidentally knocking his newest one off the table."  
  
LightStrike suddenly appeared next to them and roared bringing their attention back to the battle. They watched intently as the end of the fight drew near.  
  
**********************  
  
Rain continued to circle Rion, bringing him higher and higher. When she was sure he was too frightened to get in the way, she went into a dive, surprising him out of his wits.  
  
The Kaiser dove almost strait down, strait for the desert sands.  
  
"Are you nuts!?" Will yelled, watching as the Kaiser approached the earth so fast it seemed like it was only a blur, "You'll kill yourself!" Will descended to a much more comfortable height.  
  
Rain pulled up on the controls, seconds before impact, spreading the Kaisers wings wide. It now flew feet above the sands, headed extremely fast to the Blade Ligar.  
  
Too fast for Rion to react.  
  
The Kaiser hit, locking its arms around the Blade Ligar. It's speed picked the Blade Ligar clear off the ground as the two headed strait for the face of one of the surrounding cliffs. Seconds before the collision Rain let go of the Ligar and pulled up, sending the Ligar deep into the rock face, and taking off into the air with out a scratch.  
  
"Damn that was a cool move!" Izumi said from her zoid on the sidelines. She continued to watch intently as Rain now flew at an amazing speed toward the, now not as high, Raynos, "She's using the dive like a roller coaster, the huge dive gave her killer speed and now with her boosters on she's able to fly strait up, faster than ever!"  
  
The group all saw that what she said was true, and they watched as Rain's blades sliced right through the unsuspecting Raynos, sending it to the ground.  
  
"The battle is over!" The judge called, "The battle is over! The winner is..." Suddenly an explosion rang out and the judge capsule was sent flying, just as a cold new voice said, "The winner is me."  
  
Rain didn't even know what hit her. She was sent spiraling to the ground, and within seconds collided violently, sending a cloud of sand and dust everywhere. The cockpit shattered, and she was thrown out and onto the hot desert sands. Suddenly a large, sky blue WhaleKing appeared below the clouds. It quickly opened fire on the hover cargo.  
  
Orihime managed to put the shields up just before the missiles hit, sending smoke everywhere.  
  
"Mom!" Koh yelled, jumping out of his Iron Kong. The shattered glass sliced his hands wide open, but he didn't care. His arm was burning, but that also didn't matter... the only thing on his mind was his mother. He ran as fast as he could, tears in his eyes. His mother had taken some pretty nasty dives before, but none like that. He had this nagging feeling, this pain in his heart, that his mother was in trouble this time.  
  
The others were all heading off the cliffs, all the aerial zoids taking flight and heading toward the WhaleKing. The Bahamut 0 was out in front, it's superior speed bringing him far ahead of the others.  
  
Zack elevated and flew strait at the WhaleKing. He was almost there when he suddenly smacked into something... electric charges were sent through the zoid and pilot alike, and the dragon fell, its wings damaged. As he fell, electricity still running through his zoid and himself, Zack managed to say, "Don't... it has a force field..." With that he fell unconscious, and collided with the ground.  
  
Everyone stopped in their tracks except Koh who was still rushing towards his mothers wrecked zoid.  
  
Nadia was trying to get out of her zoid but the cockpit was jammed shut and she couldn't escape. She had tears in her eyes and was sobbing, "Mom."  
  
Cloud and the others who were still conscious but who's zoids couldn't move were also running toward the Kaiser. Koh was closest and was quite a distance ahead of the others.  
  
Suddenly an arrow came out of nowhere and Koh stumbled. He landed face first in the sand, a sudden shot of pain running through his side. He tried to push himself up, but couldn't. He felt weak and tired all at once, and unconsciousness gripped him.  
  
"KOH!" Nadia and Hiro both screamed. Nadia rammed as hard as she could on the cockpit with her shoulder. It was no use. She hit it one last time and gasped out in pain as she fell back to the seat, gripping her shoulder. Tears streamed down cheeks.  
  
Rei pushed his zoid toward Koh's unconscious body, while the others on foot ran. Then, the unthinkable happened. Koh disappeared.  
  
"What the Hell!?" Izumi yelled. One second he was there, the next, gone. She slammed on her control panel, "Who the hell is doing this!?"  
  
"I am." A voice rang over the battlefield. It was the same cold, cruel, male voice that had interrupted the judge earlier.  
  
"Who the hell are you!?" Izumi screamed in pure rage.  
  
"I am..." The voice stated, cold as ever. "Sin."  
  
"Where is Koh!?" Hiro yelled angrily.  
  
"He is mine now." The voice answered. "Though I wanted the two Demi- Humans..."  
  
Clouds blood ran cold. This person, this Sin, he knew about the Demi- Humans. He knew about Rain and himself. But, why did he take Koh!? Why did he take Koh if he wanted the two Demi-Humans? And who was he!? Only his friends new about the Demi-Humans.  
  
"I took Koh for my own reasons." The voice said. "I see that the two Demi- Humans I was after are no longer what I want."  
  
Rain opened her eyes slowly, her entire body shaking and cold. Blood was spilled around her, and she lay in a pool of it. She coughed slightly, more blood escaping from her lips.  
  
She felt tired. Very tired. She looked up slightly, not moving her head. That's when she noticed the figure standing at the front of her cockpit... this figure, it was so familiar. It was so... she couldn't think. She could barley see the figure before her, only catching it's outline and it's eyes. Its eyes seemed to watch her... cold green eyes that seemed filled with nothing but hatred.  
  
The Kaiser pilot stared a few seconds longer, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. Her two different colored eyes, the silver and the hazel, slowly closed and she fell unconsious once again...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 5~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Finnaly the story picks up! Yay! Anyways, Im giving myself a pat on the back for posting two chapters in one day! Hope you liked it (I don't know why, but I liked this chapter and the last chapter a lot....) Review please! ^_^ 


	6. Death and revival?

Authors note: Hey everyone. Thanks again for all the great reviews!  
  
Himeko you can call me which ever name you want but I think Luna sounds better than Chantel ^_^  
  
I just downloaded a bunch of Inuyasha songs... I love all the music in Inuyasha, my favorite song would probably be My Will but I also really like Do as Infinity, and Change the World too. So I'll be listening to Inuyasha while I type this chap!  
  
Anyways, on to chapter 6!  
  
CHAPTER 6  
  
~*~*~A figure stood surrounded by smoke. Flames blazed up behind this figure as it turned it's cold green eyes to look down on something... a woman with long silver hair. She lay in a pool of her own blood, unconscious.  
  
The figure just continued to stare, it's eyes filled with all kinds of negative emotions... mostly hatred and anger. The woman just lay their under the figures stare.  
  
The hate filled eyes shifted as the figure drew a long, flame colored sword, and pointed it down at the unconscious woman... the figure then swung and... ~*~*~  
  
Rain screamed and sat up quickly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She ached all over, and it felt like her ribs were broken. Her head hurt and she was confused at first about where she was.  
  
"Rain!" Hiro burst into the room followed by the others including the kids and the Blitz team. He rushed up to Rains bed, and looked her over, worriedly.  
  
"H..." Rain struggled to stop crying, "Hiro?"  
  
"Yeah," Hiro ran a hand through Rain's long silver hair.  
  
Rain looked around weakly at her surroundings. She very quickly recognized them as the infirmary at the Water Fall base. She thought back and slowly remembered winning the fight with the Blitz team... but she was still confused to why she was in the infirmary and why she was hurt so bad.  
  
"What happened?" Rain demanded, wincing as she shifted her weight to look at the group. All of them looked pretty worried and sad about something... she also noticed that Zack and Koh were not present.  
  
Nobody answered, most of them just looked down at the floor. They seemed to upset and worried... maybe even scared to tell Rain.  
  
"Tell me what happened!" Rain demanded again. This time Hiro answered.  
  
"We were attacked and you were shot down..." Hiro stated quietly, "By some one who knew about the demi-humans."  
  
Rain held her breath as her heart seemed to skip a beat. No one... not even Nadia and Koh new about the demi-humans... then a thought struck her and she began to feel fear well up inside of her, "Where's Koh!?"  
  
"Whoever it was took him. He was shot with an arrow and before any of us could reach him he just disappeared." Hiro answered, still quietly.  
  
"What!?" Rain felt tears well up in her eyes, "How can someone just disappear!?"  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
Rain began to cry again, feeling both despair and anger. She tried to calm herself but couldn't. She only thought of Koh over and over... and couldn't get his face.  
  
Cloud sat at the end of his sisters bed. He felt pure anger at whoever this "Sin" person was that took his nephew. But at the same time his entire soul felt filled with pure guilt at not being able to stop him, "We saw a WhaleKing... everyone began to go after it but it had a force field. When Zack hit it sent electricity through both the Bahamut and him. He's still unconscious in the other bed."  
  
Rain looked over at the other bed to see Zack. He had bandages wrapped around his forehead, chest, and arms... some of which were blood stained. He had burns along his arms and his hands were bandaged and the palms were blood stained where he had been holding his zoids controls.  
  
The blood reminded Rain of something... now she remembered something from the battle. She remembered laying in the sand looking up at someone weakly, "I saw some one..." Rain whispered, now thinking about both her dream and the battle.  
  
"What!?" Hiro asked.  
  
"I remember waking up now..." Rain said slowly, "There was some one standing in front of Kaiser's cockpit..." She thought about it and the figure slowly became more and more familiar in her mind... but she still couldn't quite place it.  
  
"What did they look like?" Izumi asked, walking up and sitting next to Rain. Goji Bit, and Leon all turned around and ushered all of the kids out of the room. Reluctantly they left.... all except Nadia who refused to leave the room.  
  
"I..." Rain thought hard while placing her face in her hands... which only seemed to make her head hurt more, "I... don't know. It seemed so familiar..." She concentrated on the image of the figure in her mind... "I can't remember..." She looked up as tears fell from her eyes. She felt like she was in a never ending nightmare... every time she turned a corner in life something terrible happened.  
  
"Shhh," Hiro wrapped his arms around Rain carefully, as not to hurt her. He to had tears in his eyes but he refused to cry. Rain buried her face in his clothes, still trying to focus on the figure in her mind.  
  
Nadia sat quietly, she had cried all her tears and was now focused on her mother. Absent mindedly she fiddled with the necklace that Koh had given her. Suddenly she had an idea, "Mom. You said the figure looked familiar right?"  
  
Rain looked up at her daughter and nodded.  
  
"I'll be right back." Nadia said, running out of the room and surprising everyone. She raced down the hallway and into her room, rushing over to her desk. Grabbing a few sheets of paper, a clipboard and a pencil, she raced back to the infirmary.  
  
She was just about out of breath when she burst back into the room, carrying the supplies she had in her hands over to her mother. She set them down on the bed and said, "Maybe if you try and draw the figure you or the others'll recognize it... It always works for me when I can't remember exactly what something looks like."  
  
"That's a good idea." Tyra said. Everyone sat around the bed, or on it, and patiently waited as Rain picked up the drawing supplies and began to sketch. The sketch soon began to take shape as Rain began to remember more and more things about this figure... and then it hit her. She finaly recognized the figure in her mind. She gasped and dropped the pencil, "I... I know who it was!"  
  
"Who!?" Cloud asked, gazing at the drawing.... Rain was right, the figure did look familiar... but he couldn't place it either.  
  
Rain quickly picked up the pencil and continued to draw, and the others began to see the same familiarity that Cloud and Rain felt. It wasn't until Rain added something that they recognized it, but when they finaly did it shocked them. It shocked them because it was someone they hadn't seen in about twenty years.  
  
The figure was thin and had long hair... it was a woman with piercing eyes and a cruel smile.... but that's wasn't what made them recognize her... it was the fact that she was a demi-human. A demonic demi-human with blade like wings and claws.  
  
Cloud felt like his heart stopped beating. It was almost completely silent in the room except for the sounds of the infirmary machines running in the background. The 42 year old Light-Feather looked down at the drawing, "Gabrielle." He quietly whispered.  
  
Nadia was confused... the person in her mothers drawing didn't look human. She looked like she was part zoid and part human... but that was impossible wasn't it. Then she thought about it... she had heard her parents and the other adults use the term demi-human quite a bit within the past day, but she didn't know what a demi-human was.  
  
"It can't be..." Cloud continued, "I saw her fall..."  
  
"We all did." Bit whispered.  
  
Cloud shook his head, "I had just taken care of Luke when I saw both of you fighting... I saw that her wings were torn and broken... so were yours. Then..."  
  
Nadia became confused... what were they talking about? 'Her wings were torn and broken? And so was moms?' she thought, she sat quietly and listened, deciding to ask questions later.  
  
Cloud swallowed, remembering everything so vividly tore at his heart. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Then she stabbed you and you fell..."  
  
Orihime continued for him, "you grabbed onto Gabrielle before she fell, and you both went off the cliff, neither of you able to fly..."  
  
Rain nodded, "It was the only thing I could think of... I pulled her off with me..."  
  
Everyone now remembered the night vividly... the one night that they had agreed to never talk about again. But here they were, reiterating everything that had happened.  
  
"Cloud landed on the cliffs, then ran and jumped after you..." Lavender said. Everyone now had their eyes closed remembering exactly what happened.  
  
"We all ran to the edge of the crater and watched..." Rei added, "Until we couldn't see you anymore... then we decided to climb down...  
  
Goji opened his eyes, looking over at Nadia, who had a look of pure confusion on her face. He decided it wasn't a good idea to talk about what happened next in front of her... If she were to find out... he cleared his throat and everyone looked up at him... some of them had tears in their eyes. He cocked his head toward Nadia and said, "Perhaps now is not the best time to talk about this. The point is, we all saw Gabrielle go off the cliff, and she couldn't fly so she couldn't have survived the fall."  
  
Rain looked over at Nadia, realizing what Goji was getting at, "Sweet heart... can you please go and sit with the other kids please?"  
  
"But..." Nadia stood, looking at her mother. The others all looked at her, and she sighed. She turned silently and left, her long silver hair swiping out from behind her as she quickly left.  
  
Brad went and made sure Nadia didn't have her ears pressed to the door. Seeing everything was clear he walked back over to Rains bed and said, "Goji's right Rain... Gabrielle couldn't have possibly survived the fall... could she have?" he turned to Cloud.  
  
Cloud thought for a second, then shook his head, "No... At least I don't think so..." He closed his eyes, "I don't think even one of us demi-humans could have been strong enough to survived a long fall like that without anything to break it."  
  
"She did hit the water though... didn't she?" Leena asked, "after all, her body wasn't down on the ground when we got their... Maybe the water broke her fall..."  
  
"Then she definitely wouldn't have lived." Jemie stated simply, "She fell from too high up. The water would have crushed her bones... it probably would have crushed her armor too."  
  
Cloud nodded, "She did land in the water, I saw her."  
  
"Then she's dead. She couldn't have survived." Naomi stated.  
  
"That's who I saw." Rain stated, "and Im not saying she had to survive... after all, I didn't survive, did I?"  
  
Cloud held his breath and looked down at his hands and arms. He quietly whispered, "No... you didn't..." He continued to look at his hands, remembering everything that had happened that night. Rain had asked him to sing her their mothers song... then... he began to tremble slightly as he whispered, "You died in my arms..."  
  
Rain nodded, "And I came back because of LightStrike..." She paused, "Where is he anyway?"  
  
"In the other room with the kids," Goji answered.  
  
Rain cringed... with the kids... all of them except Koh. She began to feel tears well up in her eyes again. But she decided that she had to be strong, and no matter what, they would get Koh back...  
  
"Who was the man who spoke to us on the battlefield?" Lavender asked, "He said his name was Sin..."  
  
"I don't know..." Rain stated, "But... I came back to life." She sighed, "What if Gabrielle did too?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 6~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hope you liked it. Eventually the story will shift more over to the kids, but none of the original characters will be forgotten! I promise!  
  
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering... the tarantula IS still on the loose... ^_^  
  
  
  
  
  
(Inuyasha Rules!!!!!) lol, please review! 


	7. The new threat

Authors note: I know I say this every chapter but... thanks for all the great reviews; they really keep me going on this fic.  
  
Himeko: You really passed out in the middle of the movie? Wow. Im afraid of spiders too and during that part I knew that there was going to be a big spider so I prepared myself... it wasn't even the big one that scared me the most it was the medium sized ones that Harry and Ron passed in the cave... creepy crawlers... lol.  
  
Anywho, on to chapter 7!  
  
CHAPTER 7  
  
Koh's eyes fluttered open painfully. His entire body hurt so much that he couldn't think strait. Looking around he noticed that he was chained up by the arms on a wall, and was just sort of hanging there. He felt the chains digging into his wrists painfully as he tried to wriggle free of his position. Pain over swept him and he suddenly stopped struggling, and looked over himself. He had crimson stained bandages around his sides, and his black leather vest/jacket was gone. He had blood trickling down his arms and hands, all the way down his softly-muscled chest.  
  
His vision suddenly blurred and he closed his eyes tight, just as his head started to pound worse than it already was. After a few seconds he reopened them and decided to take a look around his surroundings. To his left was a lit torch, the only source of light in the room, it was embedded into the stone wall. The floor was covered in straw, and beneath the straw was dirt. To his right was... darkness. Nothing but darkness.  
  
He could hear the sounds of water dripping, and he could feel the dampness of the room, or dungeon as he now recognized it, in the air and on the wall. Small sounds came to his ears... sounds that he honestly didn't want to know what created them.  
  
Then... footsteps. They came from the right. He squinted his eyes trying to see who was the owner of the footsteps, and soon saw a figure come into view. It was a young woman. She had long, flowing blond hair and piercing olive green eyes. She mostly stayed hidden in the shadows, as if the darkness clung to her thin but strong form. From what Koh could make out in the dark she was wearing red... allot of red. The young warrior stayed quiet as the woman eyed him over.  
  
The woman stayed in the shadows, and blinked her eyes a few times before stating, "So. Your him."  
  
Koh kept quiet, not sure by what the woman meant. She didn't speak, instead she just stared, almost daring him to say something. Her eyes seemed to taunt him, almost... hauntingly, as if she had a grudge against him for some reason. They both stayed quiet for a few minutes, and upon finaly realizing that Koh wasn't about to say anything, the woman at last spoke again, "What... are you a mute? You can talk can't you?"  
  
Koh just eyed her, unsure of what to say. He didn't like this woman in the least bit, and for some reason, her eyes told him that she didn't like him much either.  
  
"Koh, right?" The woman asked, still clinging to the shadows. She sat on something Koh couldn't see, probably a chair, "You can answer me. I am not going to bite."  
  
Unable to hold it in any longer Koh asked, his voice weaker than he thought, "Where am I?"  
  
"So the boy can talk." The woman teased, the firelight dancing in her eyes, "Your in our base."  
  
Koh suddenly remembered the battle, and anger welled up inside of him. His mother laying in her own blood flashed into his mind as he screamed, "You brought me here!"  
  
"Quit yelling. I am standing right here, and I can hear you." The woman demanded.  
  
"Where's my mother!?" Koh said, this time more calm, but still in a very angered manner.  
  
"I don't know," She seemed to shrug,"Im hoping she's not dead though... I didn't mean to hit the Kaiser that hard." Her voice seemed delighted in tormenting the young pilot. She loved the look on his face as she said this, and seemed to savor it, "It's hard to say. When I saw her she looked pretty dead to me. But..." She trailed off, completely feeding off the horrified look on Koh's face, "Then again... Im used to seeing her that way, and it's become quite hard to tell when she's dead or when she's alive."  
  
Koh's eyes narrowed, Nadia had always told him he gained a serpents tongue when he became too angered... and now, he was too angered, "You Bitch!" Koh yelled, though his voice was still kind of weak, it even surprised the woman, "How dare you! You...You attacked my mother! Who the hell are you!?"  
  
"Why, my dear boy," She taunted, but still she was surprised by the name he had used, "Im your great aunt. On your mothers side of course. She is my niece, and Cloud is my nephew. My name is Gabrielle."  
  
"What!?" Koh looked over the women's face, the only part of her he could clearly see, "Your lying. Your to young to be my mother's aunt. You look younger than she is."  
  
The woman only laughed...  
  
*****************************  
  
Nadia sat in the main room, wondering what her parents were talking about. The other teenagers were sitting on various sofas, most of them relatively quiet.  
  
"What are they talking about?" Rion asked Nadia suddenly, his voice startling her slightly. Everyone had been wondering the same thing, and they now all looked at Nadia.  
  
"I don't know... at first they were talking about Koh... then they started talking about a bunch of things that I didn't understand." Nadia shifted uneasily under the stares of the others.  
  
"Im sorry about your brother." Hikari said, walking over and sitting next to Nadia, who started to fiddle with the necklace around her neck. Tears welled up in her eyes but she didn't cry... she only blinked them away silently.  
  
Jessie grabbed the television remote off the table, and pressed the button. The t.v. flashed on, and the young warrior quickly turned it to the news. The others all watched, unsure of what else they could do.  
  
The reporter on the television suddenly gasped as she was handed a sheet of paper, "We just got a report, the ZBC's official ultrasaurus is being attacked by some unknown enemy... so far, 7 people have been injured in the attack, and 10 people are dead. We have live footage on the way..." The reporters face despaired and pictures of the ZBC's ultrasaurus were shown.  
  
Fires surrounded the giant zoid, and explosions rang out. Screams and yells could be heard in the background, and smoke erupted from the Ultrasaurus... suddenly, out of nowhere, a WhaleKing appeared. It did none of the attacking, it only sat in the air, watching.  
  
Immediately all the teenagers gasped... it was the same WhaleKing that had attacked them! Nadia jumped up and ran to the infirmary, a few of the others following.  
  
Rain had almost drifted back to sleep, tears in her eyes, when Nadia burst into the room. Following her was Rion, Will, and Kristen, the others had stayed to watch the report. The four kids were out of breath and looked terrified as ever.  
  
"What's wrong!?" Izumi demanded, looking over at her daughter.  
  
"The WhaleKing!" Nadia gasped, "Its on the news!"  
  
Will nodded quickly and said, "It's attacking the ZBC's Ultrasaurus!"  
  
"What!?" Rain jolted up quickly, wishing that she hadn't. She ignored the pain and said, "The same one that attacked us!?"  
  
Rion nodded, "Yeah, it looks bad for the Ultrasaurus too!"  
  
Rain pushed herself out of bed, ignoring the instructions from the others to stay laying down. She swayed slightly, almost collapsing, until Hiro caught her. He looked down at her pleading silver and gold eyes, "I have to see..."  
  
Hiro nodded and let Rain lean against him as he led her down the hallway, everyone else following. They made it to the main room and saw the television, most of them horrified. The Ultrasaurus, the greatest and most magnificent of all zoids, was buckling under the attack. It was both a sad and horrible sight.  
  
Hiro sat Rain down on one of the couches, and she winced slightly as he did so, but never took her eyes off the television. The on scene reporter appeared in front of the camera, with tears in her eyes, "No one knows who is leading the attack... and it had completely caught the ZBC off guard..."  
  
Suddenly one huge explosion rang out and the great ultrasaurus seemingly roared out in pain. The giant zoid began to sway, and within a few seconds it collapsed, it's head still raised and roaring in its sorrow, dust rose around the giant, and people could be heard gasping out loud. Eventually it's glowing eyes went dark, and with one last cry, the great zoids head fell.  
  
The reporter was now crying, "The ZBC's Ultrasaurus has fallen..." Other people could be heard screaming and crying in the background...  
  
Nadia froze, horrified. The Ultrasaurus had always been a sign of hope for her, and many other as well. It wasn't the same Ultrasaurus that had helped in the defeat of the DeathStinger, but... it still held the same amount of awe and love among the people. The great Ultrasaurus had outlasted so many attacks before now... including the devious Black Draft... to most people the great zoid had seemed invincible.  
  
Now that it had fallen, it seemed as though all hope was lost.  
  
The reporter turned her head back to the great zoid... her long brown hair was swaying in the wind and tears streamed down her cheeks. She just stood there, and stared.  
  
The group was sitting on the couches, each of them taking the attack in their own way. Rain looked over at Nadia and the other kids... then back at the scene... she was oblivious to the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. She stared at the screen for a long time before she noticed something... a figure, standing amiss the flames.  
  
"Oh my God..." Rain said... "It's her..."  
  
All the adults immediately knew who she was talking about and stared, each of them not taking the eyes off the figure. The kids just stared, thinking, 'what the hell are they staring at.' Even LightStrike seemed to see what they didn't.  
  
Suddenly the reporter said, "There's someone in the fires!" She pointed, as the demi-human came closer. She walked like a devil among hell, her crimson red armor reflecting the dancing light of the flames. The reporter gasped as she noticed the armor that was on the approaching figure... "What the..."  
  
Before she could finished her sentence the demi-human had attacked her, knocking her out but not killing her.  
  
The camera man was long gone, and now the demi-human was propping the camera onto a rock.  
  
"Gabrielle.." Cloud stated, hatred singing off his voice. The other adults either growled or hissed, each one showing his or her own dislike of the woman. LightStrike roared angrily.  
  
"Hello Zi." Gabrielle stated, gazing demonically into the camera. Her voice tauntingly said, " Im here to announce the fall of the ZBC."  
  
"Damn her!" Izumi screamed.  
  
"See that WhaleKing up there?" Gabrielle pointed, the Whaleking suddenly changed, reveling a large dragon like zoid that was even bigger then the Ultrasaurus, "Well, it's not really a WhaleKing... just a hologram." She laughed evilly. The camera zoomed in on the large dragon.  
  
The dragons armor was crimson red and black. Along its huge back large blades ran. It had four charged partial canons, two very powerful ones located on the head, one being in the mouth. The other two were on it's massive shoulders. Laser and missile torrents ran up and down the dragons four large legs, and it's huge claws glistened in the sunlight. It had at least 7 ion boosters located on it's back, sides and wings.  
  
The dragons long wings were bladed all along the edges, and were energy charged, like the Kaisers. The energy was orangish red, and yellow at the tips. On each wing was a separate EC canon, and a gattling gun.  
  
It's tail was long and deadly, with massive blades and a strange kind of gun at the end.  
  
Gabrielle laughed, "This, Zi, is the ultimate zoid. It's name... Chaos- sin, the ender."  
  
She turned back to the camera, "Oh, and Cloud?" She paused, "How is Rain... I hope I didn't hit her too hard..." She broke out into laughter again, "And don't worry... Koh is fine, just a little... busy at the moment. But I'll go get him to say hello." She disappeared for a few seconds, then returned. She was holding something off camera.  
  
"Say hello to mummy and daddy..." Gabrielle hissed, pulling the young teenager by his shoulder length, silver hair. She lifted him into view.  
  
"KOH!" Rain yelled, tears streaming down her face. She bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood.  
  
Koh looked awful. He had blood flowing slightly from his mouth and down his chin. His face was bruised and battered, and on the side of his head he had a long cut, and crimson blood ran down the side of his face. His breathing was weak and slight.  
  
His eyes were weak and cold... having almost no emotion in them whatsoever... except one. His bright blue eyes seemed to be almost pleading, telling his friends and family not to come after him... almost apologizing for something.  
  
Gabrielle threw him to the ground and he collapsed weakly, "You know... He has quite a mouth that im sure Rain never taught him. You wouldn't have believed what he called me today." She smiled, "You know... starts with a B and ends in an itch. I've never even heard that out of your mouth Cloud."  
  
Nadia had tears streaming down her face when she turned away from the television. She could still hear the woman's taunting voice.  
  
"Your lucky Sin wants me to keep him alive. Why? I don't know." She looked down at the battered boy at her feet, "Guess what I told him Cloud."  
  
Cloud cursed, already knowing what she was talking about. Rain had all but passed out, and had buried her face once again into the safety of Hiro's shirt.  
  
"I told him about you and Rain... about the demi-humans... The Ryuu and the Tenshi..." She laughed cruelly, "I told him about everything; Luke, the MCME... everything. Even Copper."  
  
At this Ryuji held his breath. Not even Ayane knew about Copper.  
  
The adults suddenly felt overwhelmingly guilty. None of them had ever mentioned anything to there kids. Then never thought they would have to... and now, Rain felt the worst.  
  
Gabrielle bent over and pulled Koh up again. He weakly looked over at the camera and smiled. He had his hand in his pocket, unknown to his captor. Quickly he removed something and lunged, with all the strength he had left.  
  
Gabrielle screamed in pain as the knife buried itself deep into her stomach, and hot crimson blood flowed down her dress.  
  
Nadia gasped, suddenly realizing what had happened. The knife... it was the gift that she had bought him for his birthday. He must of found it in his room before the battle. It was retractable, and along it's jagged blade it was coated in a thin layer of diamond, very thin, and that made it very sharp. Its hilt was silver, and had gems embedded in the side, including a pure sapphire at the top. Along the hilt a silver snake was carved, making it's way all the way up to the blade.  
  
With his last bit of strength Koh said, "Thanks... Nadia." Then passed out.  
  
"Damn, boy!" Gabrielle screeched, throwing him back to the ground. She had forgotten to check his pockets for any sort of weapon. Damn!  
  
The Demi-human looked down at him and was about to kill him with his own knife when a voice filled the area, "Don't touch him. I told you not to take him out of Chaos-sin."  
  
"Sin!" Goji hissed, "The voice from the battlefield!"  
  
Gabrielle cursed and dropped the knife onto the ground. She then said, "I'll see you later Cloud and Rain..."  
  
With that both Koh and Gabrielle disappeared, Rain passed out, and all the people of Zi cried.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 7~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: oooh long chapter... kinda. Not as long as the last chapter in Searching for the past though... Anyways, hope you liked it!  
  
Itsy bitsy spider... lol. Please review. 


	8. The White Bishop and the Black King

Authors note: Awww come on you guy's, did you really think that I would leave Gabrielle out of the story? Lol. Anyways, thanks for all the great reviews!  
  
Himeko: My sisters mad at you for calling her a wench, lol. She was reading the reviews and finaly found out that not many people liked her character... (Well you called the Gabrielle in the story a wench, but she still got mad... oh well)  
  
Oh, and once again, if your an RPG fan check out my friend Glitch's story: Dark Planet: REVIVAL. Its pretty good so far (plus I helped him choose what characters to use... lol)  
  
Also, Im not sure exactly how long after Chaotic Century that Zoids/0 takes place... i've read various things, and I know they have the same timeline and 0 is after CC... One website even said that Zoids/0 takes place 3000 years after the Chaotic Century series (another site said 300 years @_@). Im not sure if this is true or not. Im just making it so that it takes place a long time after, not mentioning an exact amount of time... hope this is ok with everyone. (If anyone knows for sure how long it is after Chaotic Century that Zoids/0 takes place, please tell me.)  
  
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!  
  
CHAPTER 8  
  
Hiro silently carried the unconscious Rain down the hallway and into the infirmary once again. He gently set her down on the bed and put the blankets on top of her, so she wouldn't be cold. He was just about to leave when he decided to check on Zack and make sure he was doing ok.  
  
He quietly approached the Bahamut 0's pilot, and looked over at a monitor. It showed Zacks heart rate at normal. With a sigh, Hiro reached over to turn off some machine that was making a very loud and annoying beeping noise. That's when the Bahamut 0's pilot stuck, suddenly grabbing the hand that was reaching over him with his own bandaged hand.  
  
He did it so silently and quickly that it scared Hiro out of his wits, and caused him to jump at least three feet in the air. When Zack let go he was grinning and chuckling slightly to himself while using his other hand to swipe a lock of his black hair out of his face, "Got you."  
  
Hiro just glared and grinned slightly, "That wasn't funny Zack."  
  
Zack nodded, "You jumped at least 2, maybe 3 feet, and the look on your face was hilarious." He noticed the sudden sadness behind Hiro's eyes and asked, "Now what did I miss."  
  
Hiro sighed, "Can you walk? I don't feel like explaining everything by myself..." Then he looked over to Rain, "And I don't want to wake her up, she just passed out again."  
  
Zack nodded and tried to stand. He was successful, but still a bit wobbly on his feet, and his burns hurt worse than ever. Ignoring the pain he followed Hiro slowly out of the room and down the hallway.  
  
"Dad!" Jessie said, looking up as soon as Zack entered the room. Zack looked over at his son and realized that he had tears in his eyes. 'What the hell happened?' Zack thought, 'Jessie never cries.' He nodded to his son and sat weakly with the other adults, listening as everyone began to explain.  
  
******************************  
  
"Damn it, Sin!" Gabrielle yelled fiercely, at the figure that was standing silently in the shadows, only his outline visible, "He stabbed me with that knife! I want him dead!"  
  
"Leave him alone!" Sin yelled, his voice outweighing the demons by far, "I didn't want you to even touch him!" The man's voice was average pitched, not too high, and not too low, and it sounded young. His voice even sounded gentle to a point, yet it had some type of force behind it that scared even the demi-human. The shadows covered the man, making it so only part of his outline was visible.  
  
He was gazing out the huge window located at the very top of the Chaos- sin's head, which was his private quarters. The giant zoids cockpit was located just below Sin's quarters, and the floor was made of tinted plexi glass so that he could see down into the cockpit, but none of his... workers... could see into the room.  
  
"Sin!" Gabrielle shrieked, "Why..." She was suddenly cut off by the man in the shadows.  
  
"Close your mouth now Demi-human!" Sin yelled, his gentle voice now becoming very intimidating, even to Gabrielle, "I told you to leave him alone! If I would have known you disobeyed my orders, placing him in the cells..." He paused, the venom on his voice completely sinking into Gabrielle's skin, "Then... you beat him! And worse yet, you took him out into the open, and threatened him and his family on live ZBC broadcast!"  
  
"But..." Gabrielle's usually steady voice was now quivering.  
  
"My orders were to place him in a locked room! Then to announce to the world our victory... not show them the boy, bragging on everything you've told him... Sin's voice had rose, his anger clearly visible, "But no. You forget all of my orders, and do everything possible to practically ruin my original plan! You told him everything I didn't want him to know! I can't believe you!"  
  
Gabrielle backed away as Sin still yelled, "You deserved that wound! I wanted to make him join us by choice, not force. Do you know what Im going to have to do in order for my plan to work now!?"  
  
"But Sin! Why do you care now!? You've won, the world is ours and the Zoid Battle Commission has been struck down! People fear us, and will do anything we say or want!" Gabrielle argued, her voice still uneasy.  
  
"You just don't get it do you!?" Sin yelled, "The ZBC is not gone! Just because we've taken out the Great Ultrasaurus doesn't mean they will give up!" He sighed, "Hell, they have people who's ancestors are the great heroes of the Guardian Force! The current leader of the ZBC is a Fly- Height! His ancestor is the legendary Guardian force member Van Fly- Height! You can bet he won't give up."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No But's, Demi-human!" Sin hissed, "We are the most powerful force in the world now. I will agree with you there." He paused, "But, we cannot make mistakes! A small power, such as the ZBC as it stands now, can overtake even the biggest power, us, if there are mistakes. We have already made enough."  
  
"Nothing can stop us!" Gabrielle yelled.  
  
She was cut off again by Sin, "You are right. Nothing can stop us as long as we don't make mistakes." He sighed, walking over to his desk which was illuminated by a small light.  
  
In the center of the desk sat a chess board, with a game that had already begun, the black side still had most of it's pieces, only missing the pawns and a knight, while the white side only had 3 pawns the king, and a bishop left. Sin was still cloaked in the shadows as he continued his lecture, "Think of it like this game of chess, who do you think will win?"  
  
Gabrielle looked over the board for quite a while and said, "The black side of course."  
  
"Your wrong. Look closer. Power and winnings bring cockiness and laziness." he said, "Mistakes are made, and the loosing side takes advantage, because it is underestimated. Think of us as the black side. We out-power, and out-rule our opponents greatly. But from one foolish mistake, everything can be lost in an instant."  
  
Gabrielle continued to gaze at the chess board, still content that the black side would win, "I don't understand."  
  
Sin put his gloved hand into the light, the only part of him visible now, he pointed at various pieces. The pieces were all in various places, and the pawns that were left on the white side almost completely blocked off their own king protecting him from the approaching black knight. He used his pointer finger to trace a path along the board... the white bishop was in the bottom left corner, while the black king was in the upper right. The path to the king was completely clear of all opponent pieces. He traced the path from the bishop, to the king.  
  
"One mistake." Sin said calmly, "and even the weakest force can win over the most powerful of all forces." He backed away from the light once again gazing out the window. It was now dark outside and the stars shone brightly.  
  
******************************  
  
The teenagers were all on one side of the room, while the adults were on the other. The group had just finished explaining everything to Zack.  
  
Zack sat quietly, still unsure as to if he believed that the Ultrasaurus had fallen. He looked over at Jessie, his son, who had never lied to him in his life.  
  
Jessie looked down at the floor, "It's true dad."  
  
Zack cursed and closed his eyes. The entire room was silent for minutes on end.  
  
Ayane stood suddenly, looking directly at the adults, mostly her father. She puled a violet bang out of her pale face and said, "I want answers."  
  
The adults were completely taken off guard, and Ryuji most of all. They stayed silent and sat, refusing to speak.  
  
Ayane still stood, her eyes never leaving her father. A few seconds later Rion stood, standing just behind Ayane. Next to stand were Shiro and Kristen. Eventually Will, Jessie and Hikari stood as well.  
  
Last to stand was Nadia, who said as she looked over at her father and uncle, "We ALL want answers."  
  
"Now." Shiro added, with a nod from Kristen.  
  
"Tell us what's going on." Hikari said quietly.  
  
"And don't lie either. You know something." Will accused.  
  
Rion nodded and said, "That's obvious enough."  
  
Jessie agreed, "We want the entire story."  
  
Cloud sighed and looked at his niece and said, "The entire story?"  
  
Nadia nodded, "Everything." LightStrike walked over to her and nudged her slightly, he seemed to be siding with the group of teenagers.  
  
"Well sense LightStrike seems to think you should know..." Cloud said as he began to tell the entire tale... starting with the very beginning of the MCME incident.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 8~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Heh. Hope this portrays Sin's character a bit better. That was the main purpose of this chapter. Well, and to show that all the teenagers were starting to get more involved...  
  
Oh, and sorry if I spelled Van's last name wrong, I just guessed.  
  
Hope you liked it. Don't forget to read and review! 


	9. A game of chess

Authors note: Ok, thanks for all the feedback on the amount of time between CC and 0. 4000 sounds right so im going with that.  
  
Since I got two different responses on how to spell Van's name, (With the hyphen or without) im just going to leave it as it is. Thanks.  
  
Once again... Thanks for the reviews!  
  
Now onwards to chapter 9...  
  
CHAPTER 9  
  
"...then LightStrike fused with us, bringing Rain back to life, and turning us back to normal humans. We left the crater, and all agreed to "forget" that anything had ever happened." Cloud stated, finishing off his story. He hold told it very quickly, and basically in a nutshell, but he had told them everything they needed to know. He looked up at the teenagers, and was not surprised to see the look on their faces. The two that seemed most surprised were Ayane and Nadia... and they had every right to be. After all, Ayane just learned her father used to have an evil, cruel and homicidal split personality who delighted in taunting and killing people, and Nadia just learned that her mother and uncle had, at one time, been demi-humans.  
  
Jessie looked over at his dad and said, "You really worked for Gabrielle at first...?"  
  
Zack shook his head, "No. Zero worked for Orihime, and Orihime worked for Gabrielle."  
  
Will looked over at his mother and father, "So you used to be the one in charge mom?"  
  
"Yes... but I always hated it. Like Cloud said, it was because they had my parents in custody." She sighed, "And I wasn't in charge either. Gabrielle was... and I was kinda scared of her."  
  
Nadia and Ayane stayed pretty quiet while the other kids continued to ask questions. The adults answered, most of them hesitantly. After a while, all the questions were asked and everything was quiet. It stayed that way for a good while, everyone thinking on their own. Most the teenagers could hardly believe everything that was said. And the adults were busy hating themselves for never telling their kids anything sooner.  
  
"So..." Ayane finally said quietly, "You... er, Copper, actually tried to... kill everyone?"  
  
Ryuji winced. He knew the question would come sooner or later, "Yes he did."  
  
Everyone was quiet, their attention focused on the young "gothic" and her father. Ayane looked down at the floor and asked, "Did you... he... kill anyone before then?"  
  
"I don't know." Ryuji answered truthfully, "I always kinda blacked out most of the time... Only once or twice did I kinda remember what happened."  
  
"Oh..." Ayane sighed.  
  
"Ayane..." Ryuji hated this. Even after he had beaten Copper it seemed that he continued to haunt him.  
  
The room was once again filled with an awkward silence, until Nadia spoke up, "..Uncle Cloud?" She paused, "I want to get Koh's knife back."  
  
"What?" Cloud looked over at her.  
  
"She left it in the desert by the wreck of the Ultrasaurus... Gabrielle did." Nadia said quietly, yet everyone heard, "It was the birthday gift I gave to Koh..."  
  
"Nadia..."  
  
"Please uncle Cloud?"  
  
"..." Cloud sighed. Of all the things that his niece had to think about, a stupid knife was the most important? They could get another knife.  
  
"Please?"  
  
LightStrike suddenly bit down on Clouds hand... hard. He growled as he let go, and walked over to Nadia. The organoid nudged her lovingly as she hugged him back, and Cloud suddenly saw the tears she was holding back.  
  
"Alright Nadia." Cloud gave in, "You and I will go, tomorrow, first thing."  
  
******************************  
  
Koh opened his eyes slowly, wincing in pain as he did so. He realized he wasn't in the dungeon anymore, but in a large room that was dimly lit. He sat up painfully and looked around. The huge, canopy bed he was lying on was covered in thick, fuzzy blankets that were an icy blue, and had an eastern oriented dragon sewed into them. The sheets were white, and made of a soft fabric that the teenager didn't recognize. The beds four posts each had the same eastern oriented dragon carved into them.  
  
There was a large, glass table a ways to his left. Four beautify carved wooden chars set around it.  
  
To his right was a large wooden cabinet, with a lamp standing next to it.  
  
A small round table at the wall of the room got his attention. On it sat a glass chessboard, and the pieces sat neatly arranged along the starting lines. Two small chairs sat on either side, and a small timer was also on the table.  
  
Koh tried to get up even more, but stopped as he felt a sharp pain stinging in his side. He almost cried out as he slumped back down into the bed. His head had begun to hurt, and a wave of dizziness swept over him. Bringing a hand to his eyes, he noticed his head had a set of bandages wrapped around them as well. His arm had also been bandaged... along with his side.  
  
Then he began to think. He remembered the demi-human Gabrielle, and his first impulse was to go into a cursing spree... but he didn't much feel like it. He was too busy remembering everything she had told him; his mom and uncle being demi-humans, Luke, Copper, everything. He felt a wave of emotions overswept him as he remembered everything the wench had told him. 'I'll kill that wench...' he thought angrily.  
  
The dizziness that had overtaken him before had returned even worse. Cringing, he closed his eyes and laid his head down gently on the pillow. He felt like curling up in a little ball, and hiding underneath the covers, like when he was upset or scared about something when he was little. But that would hurt to much...  
  
He soon noticed when uncociousness came and tapped him on the shoulder... but he welcomed it and was soon fast asleep...  
  
***********************  
  
Sin sighed as he watched the scene before him. He had never wanted the young teenager hurt in the first place, it would make it all the harder to control him. He turned off the small screen that showed Koh's room, and leaned back in his chair, looking out the window and at the stars that were outside. Even the floor was dark underneath now, and he could no longer see into the cockpit.  
  
His room was not lit, and the only form of light came from the gentle shine of the millions of stars in the sky. The moons of Zi were on the other side of the horizon, offering none of their glow to the Chaos-sin's window.  
  
"Damn that stupid demi-human." Sin thought, "She could have ruined everything."  
  
He stood up and walked over to a small switch on the wall. Pressing it, the floor suddenly began to light up, lines of gentle green and teal-blue etching themselves around the surface. After a few seconds the entire floor was covered in a line map of the entire world of Zi. It looked like a giant city and landscape when seen from above at night time.  
  
Sin gazed down at the brilliantly lit floor, and small triangles indicated where the Chaos-sin was. It was flying slowly and steadily in one direction.  
  
"Zi shall soon see a new dawn." He whispered to himself as he continued to overview the map. He eventually finished and walked over to his desk, sitting in a small padded chair located behind it. He looked down at the small chess board, reset all the pieces, and began to play against himself.  
  
After about two hours Sin whispered to himself, "Checkmate..." The board showed that the black king had been checkmated by a white pawn...  
  
**************************  
  
Rain woke once again to the sounds of the beeping machines of the infirmary. She pushed herself out of bed and slowly made her way down the hall, and finaly into the main room. One look at Nadia's face told her everything she needed to know...  
  
She knew. Nadia knew.  
  
"Rain, you should still be in bed." Hiro said sternly.  
  
"And so should Zack, but I don't see you getting on him about it." Rain replied, shooting a glance over at the Bahamut 0's pilot. He winced under the woman's tired but harsh glare.  
  
Rain walked over and joined the other adults on the couches, unsure of what to say. The kids seemed to glance at her strangely... but she figured that they had all the right to. She had been able to tell by the look in Nadia's eyes that they now knew about everything. She could also tell that every single one of them was as tired as a sloth, "Everyone go get some sleep... I have a feeling we're all going to need it."  
  
Nobody seemed to argue as they began to deiced who would share guest rooms with who. It ended that they all wanted to stay together as a group, so they headed to the biggest guest room and piled in. Nadia found enough blankets and pillows for everyone, and they spread themselves around the room. The bed was big enough for three people, so Nadia, Hikari and Kristen shared it. Ayane wanted the large sofa, and the boys found places on the floor.  
  
Once all the teenagers had left the room, the adults began to talk amongst themselves. Rain looked around at all the faces, her old friends and comrades. She never knew that it would be the last night they actually all shared together...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 9~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Sorry for the delay in the update. To make a long story short, I was absent from school for a few days and had to make up allot of work. Then I spent the weekend over at my best friend Chris's house, and we watched the Cowboy Bebop movie and listened to music and stuff.  
  
I've also been working on my Chrono Cross story, and a new original anime/manga that I have yet to post. I don't know if I will or not.  
  
Anyways, hope you liked the chapter! 


	10. Until the end

Authors note: Sorry for the delays in the chapters, I've been getting busy lately. Even though finals aren't until the end of January, my teachers have been on us about studying, preparing folders, note's etc. I've been swamped with oral tests in Science and English, and In wood shop I just started a new project.  
  
But since it's now officially Christmas break, I'll probably post more within the next 2 weeks... (hopefully) Anybody got any good Christmas plans?  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 10  
  
Lightstrike awoke suddenly, his bright eyes scanning the darkness for whatever sound it was that had woken him up. Gazing around at all the teenagers in the room he quietly and gently lifted his head. He looked at each face individually, first scanning the bed, then the floor, and finally the couch. Except the couch was empty...  
  
As easily and gently as possible the organoid slid off the foot of the bed and walked slowly out of the room. Peering down the hallway he noticed that the bathroom light at the end of the hall was on. The door was open and he heard water running. He made his way as quietly as he could down the hallway and stopped at the bathroom, surprised to see Ayane getting a cup of water from the faucet.  
  
Ayane splashed a bit of water on herself before she got a cup of water. After filling the little paper cup she turned to go back to the room, completely taken off guard by the organoid standing just outside the doorway.  
  
"Hey." Ayane eventually said, with a soft growl in return from the organoid. She walked passed him and back down the hallway, startled to find Nadia standing just outside the door.  
  
"Did I wake you up?" Ayane whispered, taking a sip of her water. LightStrike walked up to Nadia nudging her lovingly.  
  
"No. LightStrike has slept on the foot of my bed since I even had a bed... Even if he's perfectly quiet and gentle I can still tell when he leaves." Nadia sighed, "I guess I've just gotten so used to him being there..."  
  
Ayane nodded, "Oh."  
  
"So what're you doing up?" Nadia asked.  
  
"Just getting water... and thinking." Ayane answered quietly, looking down into her now almost empty cup.  
  
"I've been doing allot of that too." Nadia replied, giving LightStrike a tight hug around the neck.  
  
"Yeah..." Ayane looked into the dark room, looking at everyone as they slept. She saw Jessie turn in his sleep and Kristen mumble something. Even though they were all teenagers, when they were asleep they looked like a bunch of little kids at a sleepover.  
  
Nadia sighed inwardly as she shook a thought in her head away. She looked over at Ayane and said, "Im going into the main room to make something other than water to drink. I'm not sleepy anymore. Do you want anything?"  
  
"Sure." Ayane followed Nadia down the hallway and into the main room. A gentle glow shone through the glass wall, coming from a small light in the hanger.  
  
Nadia flipped on a lamp in the corner as she made her way to the "kitchen" area of the room. Opening the fridge she pulled out a small container of orange juice, and motioned for Ayane to pick something out of the fridge.  
  
Ayane nodded and pulled out a container of lemonade, just as Nadia got two glasses. They each poured their own drinks and sat at the counter, not saying much of anything. LightStrike just laid down on the floor in the corner, waiting for the two to finish.  
  
After some time Nadia quietly said, "Do you think Koh's... ok?"  
  
Ayane was taken aback by the question and answered, "I don't know..." She looked down at the counter still stuck in thoughts of her own...  
  
********************************  
  
"Sir, preparations are almost complete." A young ZBC soldier stated. He flipped through the sheets on the clipboard he was carrying with a yawn.  
  
"Good." The commander said, turning to face the soldier. The commander had short, spiked dark brown hair and dark brown, almost black eyes. He was tall and average built, with a calm and collective form. Yet his eyes seemed to suggest both a mischievous and curious side to him.  
  
The commander took the papers and thumbed through them, scanning each one quickly. He nodded, showing his approval.  
  
"Sir, do you think this will work?" The soldier asked, seemingly uneasily.  
  
"I don't think it will work, I know it will. It has to." The commander answered reassuringly, "Now I know it's late so get some rest and report back to me in the morning."  
  
"Yes sir, Commander Fly-Height."  
  
******************************** The gentle rays of the morning sun struck through the window, and Clouds eyes fluttered slowly open. Groaning slightly he pushed himself out of bed and yawned.  
  
He walked down the hallway, and risked peeking into the kids room, noticing them all still asleep he went into the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast. It had been decided the night before that he and Nadia would go find the knife, and then they would look for a way to save Koh. Rain would stay at the base with the kids, seeing as though she was injured, and her zoid couldn't do much. At first it was sugested that Zack stay as well, but he refused.  
  
Cloud had noticed that Rain had cried herself to sleep the previous night, but she had hid it from the others. He too felt like crying, but he instead vowed that he would save Koh no matter what.  
  
"Morning Cloud." Rei's voice came from behind him. Cloud turned to face him and nodded, still stirring the many eggs he was going to cook. "Need help?"  
  
"Sure." Cloud handed Rei a bowel and the two got to work on cooking, "Your up early?"  
  
"Yeah. I always get up early. Lavender isn't a very skilled cook, Goji can't cook much either. Oh, and of course Izumi sleeps in. So, I always get up early to make breakfast."  
  
"What about Kristen?" Cloud asked, placing a bowel in the microwave.  
  
"Our base would burn to the ground." Rei sighed, "But I really don't mind cooking much. It's easy, and it's an excuse to get out of bed in the morning."  
  
"Rain told me you used to always be up early and cook when she stayed at your base to build Kaiser." Cloud paused for a moment, suddenly remembering something Rain had told him.  
  
"Yeah. She never complained about the food either." Rei nodded, "Even though I was always basically cooking the same thing."  
  
Cloud nodded slightly, still pondering on the same thought about what Rain had told him, "Rei?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why'd you help Rain build Kaiser?"  
  
Rei looked over at him for a moment and said, "Well, I never expected to find Rain when I went out looking for the "abandoned" Gustav that Zack told me about. He said that it was just sitting out in the middle of the desert, so I went to go take a look."  
  
"I know about that. Zack told me that since you were related to Luke, and that it was on file that you absolutely hated him, he told you about Rain's Gustav so that you would find her, and maybe keep her safe. He said that your base would be the last place they would expect to find her." He paused, "But that doesn't explain why you offered to help her build Kaiser."  
  
Rei placed some bread in the toaster and said, "Well... I was fascinated with Rain's description of her old zoid, and I could tell by the way she spoke of her battles, that she was a skilled pilot. She didn't mention much about you of course... only stating that she was looking for you. She showed me a photograph too."  
  
"...and?"  
  
"At first, I offered help because I was interested on battling with her. I wanted to see how good she was. Then I wanted to see if I could join her team." He sighed, "I was on a team once, but we split up and ever since then I had been working alone. But Rain seemed like a fun... yet mysterious person to hang around with. Plus, I could tell that she missed her old zoid very much, and that she would probably build a similar one. I wanted to see it, cuz dragon zoids are rare." He paused, "After a while we became friends and I just wanted to help her build it. I didn't care about joining her team or anything, I just wanted to help."  
  
"I see." Cloud stated, "Rain once told me that she could tell you wanted something, that's why you were helping her... at first."  
  
"She could tell?" Rei said, "Damn, I thought I hid it pretty well. Oh well. I still can't figure out exactly why Zack "sent" her to me though."  
  
"I already told you that." Zack said, coming into the room, "I looked up as much information on Luke as possible, and discovered you were his only living relation. I also discovered that you obviously hated him, and I had to protect Rain from him. I needed to pay Cloud back somehow after all. I told you about the gustav so that you would meet her, and more than likely keep her safe without even knowing it." The Bahamut 0's pilot looked at what they were doing and said, "I'd offer to help cook, but im not good at it."  
  
Eventually all the adults woke up and were in the kitchen/ main room of the base. Except Rain. She was exhausted, and still sound asleep in her own room. The adults who knew how to cook were busy cooking, while the others were sitting on the couches discussing strategy and idea's.  
  
"It's time to get this show on the road." Bit stated, with agreements coming from everyone. He sighed, "Im tired of us always being the ones who get attacked. Now we have to show everyone that we ain't taking it anymore. We'll show everyone just who they're messing with! Right Blitz team!?"  
  
Leena jumped up and agreed, "Right!"  
  
Doctor Tauros nodded in agreement. Bit was becoming quite the leader.  
  
"Don't get too hasty and forget us Bit!" Izumi stated.  
  
"That's right!" Lavender added, "After all, the FireBlazers are in this too!"  
  
"So are we!" Leon stated, nods coming from Naomi, Brad and Tyra of the Flugle team.  
  
"Im not going to stand around either." Ryuji said. Zack agreed with him.  
  
"Thanks you guy's." Cloud stated, serving them their food, "And of course, we Sky-Raiders are in this till the end."  
  
Everyone agreed whole heartily, but quietly so they wouldn't wake the kids. Cloud quietly said, "It will all be over soon. And we'll all be in this till the end."  
  
Orihime and Jemie got busy on the computers, trying to find any information at all about this "Sin" person and his battle zoid "Chaos-sin." They were typing furiously, looking for anything at all. Orihime had even hacked into what was left of the ZBC's secret files.  
  
Meanwhile, Rain slept as peacefully as possible. She had had a rough enough time so far, and she needed sleep... badly. She woke up a few times, but went right back to sleep.  
  
Her eyes slowly opened once again, looking down at the foot of her bed as a reflex. Even though it had been a long time since LightStrike slept at the foot of her bed, she still found herself looking for him whenever she woke up. She sighed inwardly, realizing he wasn't there, but suddenly wishing he was.  
  
As if on cue she heard a soft growl from outside her door.  
  
"LightStrike?" Rain asked quietly.  
  
The organoid walked in, and looked over at her worriedly. After a few seconds he jumped up onto the bed and curled up at the foot, as if he knew what she was thinking.  
  
"Thank you my old friend." Rain whispered, running a small hand along her old partners back, and giving him as tight a hug as it was possible without hurting herself. He growled softly, nudging her lovingly but carefully.  
  
Rain swore that the organoid seemed to say your welcome. But, she figured she was imagining it, since organoids couldn't talk. She sometimes wished that LightStrike could.  
  
She laid back down and fell asleep once again whispering "Cloud will find him... I know he will."  
  
The organoid looked up at her, and if he could have, he would have smiled gently and said, "Yes he will. Don't worry." But he couldn't so instead he growled once again, laying at the foot of Rains bed to keep her company.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 10~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sorry once again for the delay. I've been planning exactly how I want this story to lay itself out. I could lay it out a million different ways to get the ending that I want, and it was going to be hard to choose which "path" to take, in a way I had a slight writers block on deciding what to do. I finaly figured out exactly how I want it to go last night as I was trying to fall asleep, yet there is still something that seems missing in my plan... but I can't figure out what.  
  
I found this chapter extremely hard to write. I have no clue why, but I couldn't figure out how to word it. But I think I finnaly got it.  
  
Anyways, now that Im on Christmas break, expect more updates cuz Im going to try. I have a feeling this story MAY be longer than the other two, but I can't tell yet.  
  
I was also thinking of going back and re-doing Fight For the Future. I went and re-read it, and for some reason was kind of disappointed in it. It doesn't seem as detailed as either Searching for the past, or Flight of the Phoenix.  
  
Do you think I should? Im not sure... tell me what you think.  
  
Thanks all my loyal reviewers for sticking with me thus-far! 


	11. Sneaking around

Authors note: *Huggles new MP3 player* I love Christmas. I only got two presents this year... but I still love Christmas.... I love my new MP3 player.... best gift in the world cuz It's not one of those CD burning ones.... and I can turn it really loud and ignore everything my mom says! Yay!  
  
So, what was everyone else's favorite gifts this year?  
  
Anyways, here's the next chapter.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 11  
  
"Nadia..." A voice whispered, while gently shaking the sleeping girl. Nadia's eyes fluttered open slowly, and she blinked a few times to wash away the bluryness. She turned to the one who was shaking her, surprised to see who it was. Ayane was sitting on the corner of the bed looking down at her.  
  
"Ayane?..." Nadia questioned slightly, still not fully awake.  
  
"Go get dressed..." Ayane whispered quietly as possible, not wanting to wake any of the others in the room, "You want to go get that knife don't you?"  
  
Nadia suddenly remembered and nodded, pushing the covers off her body and climbing out of the bed. Quickly glancing at the clock she saw that it was 7:30, which meant her uncle was probably already awake. She carefully shuffled over to the door, Ayane following her, and peeked outside and down the hallway. Seeing the coast was clear, the two dashed down the corridor and into Nadia's room.  
  
The previous night the two had decided to go and get the knife alone. Why they decided on it eluded both of them, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. They would go to the battlefield, get the knife, and return to the base within a few hours. Simple.  
  
The only problem? Sneaking out of the base and taking their zoids without anyone knowing.  
  
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Ayane asked, once they had locked to door.  
  
"Yeah." Nadia nodded.  
  
"Ok then," Ayane said, "Hurry and lets get going."  
  
Nadia walked over to the closet and looked through her outfits, finding the one she wad going to wear. Ayane turned away and Nadia began to dress herself. After getting dressed she quickly ran a brush through her long silver hair, and placed the birthday necklace that Koh had given her around her neck.  
  
"Alright, lets go." Nadia said, leading the way out the door. The two quickly and quietly dashed down the hallway, toward the main room. Staying as close as they could to the hallway wall, they made their way closer and closer.  
  
Various voices began to make their way to the two girls ears, and they came to the end of the hall. Nadia chanced a glance around the corner, seeing that all the adults, minus her mother, were together eating and talking about things. She gave a quick nod to Ayane and the two took off down another hallway, in the direction of the hanger.  
  
They soon found themselves at the main cave, the roaring sound of the brilliant ever flowing waterfall drowning out the clatter of their metal tipped boots against the rock floor. Together they dashed across the cave, and into the mouth of an even deeper cave that led to where all the zoids were being kept.  
  
The floor of the cave began to curve and slant downward, so the two slowed their pace to avoid falling. They eventually came to a long, dark, curved tunnel that was wide enough for the zoids to make their way through, and tall enough so that the zoids heads wouldn't scrape against the top. After a few moments they saw the end, with a soft light shinning through.  
  
Nadia stopped at the end of the tunnel, her back pressed against the wall. She knew that the adults were now right above them, enjoying their breakfast. And now she was placed with a problem.  
  
The large glass wall that was right above them.  
  
"How are we going to get to the zoids?" Ayane inquired quietly, "They'd see us if we just walked over to them..." Then she paused and said, "How are we going to get the zoids out without them noticing.  
  
"Im thinking..." Nadia said looking down at the ground. An idea struck her suddenly and she looked across the hanger at her zoid. It was in the corner against the right wall, and next to it stood the battered Kaiser. If she remembered right, the Kaiser was so much bigger than her Konig wolf, that it completely blocked the zoid from the view of the adults. The GunGyarados was much closer, and was right beneath the glass wall, making it so you had to be looking almost strait down to even see it. Even then you could barley see it because all around the hanger the wall was indented to form a "roof" above the zoids.  
  
"It won't be too hard... I hope." Nadia said, "Stay against the indented wall. When you get in the cockpit, open your com-link...."  
  
Ayane nodded just as she made her way along the wall and to her zoid...  
  
****************************  
  
Gabrielle made her way down the Chaos-sin's dark, narrow hallways, cursing inwardly to herself about what she had just been informed.  
  
Sin was still going to go along with his original plan.  
  
"Damn him!" Gabrielle sighed, intentionally tripping one of Sin's workers as he passed by her in the hall, "I still can't believe he wants to use the little brat...."  
  
She turned down another, even darker hallway all the while mumbling to herself, "....I should be allowed to do as I please with him... after all I am his great aunt...." She scowled, suddenly thinking of another part in Sin's plans, "And he's going to use 'us' too! Damn it!"  
  
She finaly seemed to come to the door she was looking for. Walking over to the doors control panel, she imputed the passcode, and waited as the Chaos- sin's main computer scanned the numbers. Bright red letters flashed across the screen: ERROR ERROR ERROR...  
  
"What!" Gabrielle gasped.  
  
"I changed the code, demi-human." A voice rang out from behind the "demon" startling her slightly. She turned to face the familiar voice to find Sin standing behind her, still cloaked in the shadows making him almost completely impossible to see. The only part of him visible was his outline.  
  
"Why!?" Gabrielle demanded angrily.  
  
"Wouldn't want any accidents to take place in there now would we?" Sin stated coldly, seemingly glaring at the demi-human.  
  
"Are you saying that I would try something!?" Gabrielle yelled.  
  
"Oh no! I never implied that." Sin said somewhat sarcastically, "I only wanted to take some extra...precautions... to make sure no mistakes are made after all..." He stepped forward, the shadows seeming to almost bath him, keeping his face from Gabrielle's eyes, "Now move out of the way so that I can get through."  
  
Gabrielle scowled as she moved out of the way. Sin made his way forward to the control panel, then, making sure he blocked it from the demi-humans view, he typed in a new set of numbers. The computer immediately recognized the passcode, and the door shifted open.  
  
Sin walked through with Gabrielle following him. The first thing that she always noticed when she entered the room was the thick steam that wove it's way around the floor and machinery. A soft glow could be seen from around the corner, and hundreds of bright cords ran along the pitch black walls.  
  
The two walked around the corner and towards the light, entering a now brighter room. It was filled with huge pieces of machinery, each one buzzing and beeping, or roaring in it's own way. The main floor was levitated high above the bottom of the room, the steam rising from the air compressors, ventilation shafts, and generators located at the bottom making the room glow in an eerie light.  
  
Sin kept his cloak pulled over his head now, the shadows no longer able to hide him. But his cloak would do. Keeping his face glued on one object that was in front of him, he made his way forward.  
  
The room.... the steamy, hot, bright room, was the heart of the zoid. Sin, grasped onto a rail that was in the center of the floor and looked up. There, the source of the light, stood the massive zoids core brilliantly shining, hot, white energy seeming to emanate from its surface... and off to the side was a chair, with a lone unconscious figure slumped down on it. On the figures head was something that somewhat resembled the MCME helmet, but it was attacked to a computer that was in the corner of the room.  
  
The figure laid there motionless as Sin made his way toward him, his cloak pulled low over his face.  
  
Sin nodded his approval as he looked at a small screen on the computer that the figure was attached to. He turned to the demi-human.  
  
"It is time."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 11~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Like? Hate? Don't know? Review and tell me what you think.  
  
Sorry the chapters kinda short, im getting really tired and I figure I better quit while im ahead, so that I don't accidentally mess up the chapter in some way. @_@.  
  
Also, I want to hear all about everyone's Christmas adventures! ^_^. 


	12. The game begins

Authors note: O_O I haven't been getting many reviews lately... *Checks review list again* (Only 2 reviews show for the last chapter...) nope... no new ones.... It's probably because holidays (I hope) Anyways. I've gotten one e-mail from someone telling me that he's on vacation so maybe that's the case with everyone else. And I heard that Fanfiction was having a problem with AOL... so that could be a problem too. So, since only two people reviewed, I can reply to both of them! Yay!  
  
Deathzealot: Chill! I meant I was going to quit on that chapter for the night, not the story! That's why I said "Sorry the chapters so short but Im getting really tired..." It was midnight so I wanted sleep. Don't worry, I will never leave a story just hanging when I have so many great reviewers like yourself! Even if it does take me a while to update, I'll still continue.  
  
Kitai Matsuru: Glad you had a great Christmas! What two CD's did you get? Godiva chocolates..... Yummy *Mouth waters* I love chocolate too! My parents paid for both my Toronto and Japan trips last summer and they won't let me go any where else for a while claiming that they've spent too much money on me already. Now they're focused on my little sister...  
  
Thanks both of you for reviewing!  
  
CHAPTER 12  
  
"That was easier than I expected it to be." Nadia said over the open com- link. Her Konig wolf running just below and to the right of Ayane's flying GunGyarados.  
  
"Yeah, I almost expected them to hear us leave or something..." Ayane replied, looking down at the screen that showed Nadia's face.  
  
Nadia nodded, "I was more worried about them seeing us..." She paused, a smile creeping into her features as she thought about her success.  
  
"And where do you two think your going?" A new voice said over the com- link, startling both girls and causing Nadia to jump. A screen popped up showing a teenager, dark green hair and wine red eyes, smiling mischievously at the two "escapees".  
  
"Jessie!" Nadia sighed, "I almost thought you were your dad or something! What are you doing out here!?"  
  
Jessie's Lightning Siax suddenly came into view, running up along side the Konig wolf. It's black armor glinting in the sunlight. Jessie suddenly frowned and said sarcastically, "I could ask you the same thing, miss wake us up at 7:30 in the morning."  
  
"Us?" Ayane asked.  
  
"Yeah, you woke me up too." A screen popped up showing the blond, emerald eyed Rion, "Well actually, Jessie woke me up, but hey, he woke up because of you."  
  
The white Blade Ligar ran up just behind the Konig wolf and Lightning Siax.  
  
"Yeah, and Nadia, just to let you know..." Jessie added still frowning, "Stepping on someone's hand at 7:30 in the morning, while trying to sneak around will probably get you caught."  
  
"I stepped on your hand?" Nadia asked, she didn't remember stepping on anybody... She had been very careful not to. She did however step on a clump of blankets...  
  
"Yeah, my hand was covered though so you probably didn't see it. I thought I was only imagining it at first, but when I heard the door close It woke me up completely..."  
  
Rion broke in at this point, "And when he got up to follow you, he tripped over me, then stepped on my arm, and almost fell on my face!" He paused, "Luckily, the others managed to sleep through it all! I don't know how with all the nice compliments we both spat out at each other..."  
  
"None of them were very mean after all..." Jessie added, grinning and remembering the insults the two had passed.  
  
Ayane sighed, "I thought we had gotten out clean..."  
  
"Nobody saw you take your zoids or anything, right?!" Nadia asked, "You didn't tell my uncle or Ryuji or any of the others did you?!"  
  
"Chill, Nadia." Jessie said, "We didn't tell anyone. As for our zoids, I managed to get out easily..."  
  
"My Blade Ligar wasn't in your hanger remember?" Rion said, "It was in the hover cargo, which was empty, so don't worry about me being seen."  
  
"Good." Nadia sighed in relief, slumping down into her cockpit's chair.  
  
"So, mind telling us where we're headed to?" Jessie asked.  
  
"The Ultrasaurus battlefield." Nadia replied.  
  
"What!?" Rion sat upright in his chair, looking at Nadia's image, "Why?"  
  
"To get Koh's knife." Nadia replied simply, "You can come with us or go back to the base, your choice."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Rion grinned, "Im going definitely."  
  
"In, or out, Jessie?" Nadia asked, "You have to remember, that dragon battle zoid might still be there..."  
  
Jessie chuckled, "In. Definitely in."  
  
***************************************  
  
Sin walked into his privet chambers and gazed out the window. Unlike most zoids who's cockpits were tinted various colors, the Chaos-sin's upper window, where Sin's room was, was clear.  
  
'Soon' Sin thought, 'soon, everything will be finished once and for all.' Though the sun had risen, the shadows still clung to his form, the room almost always kept completely dark.  
  
A knock came at his door, "You may come in, Gabrielle."  
  
The demi-human entered, her wings brushing up against the door frame slightly as she did so. She glanced up at Sin, not surprised to see him looking out the window. She was startled though, seeing the shadows still clinging to him... but then again, they seemed to try and cling to him even in the heart of the zoid, the brightest part. She still didn't see how he did it, especially since she was very good at causing the shadows to hide her, and they still refused to in such light.  
  
"What is it demi-human?" Sin asked, not turning from his window.  
  
Gabrielle stepped forward, noticing that the map of Zi was visible on the floor, "Chaos-sin's readings are normal, and the subject is completely void of everything. He is ready..." Gabrielle sneered, "just as you instructed."  
  
"And you demi-human?" Sin asked, his voice hinting in a bit of amusement, "Are you?"  
  
Gabrielle cursed, her eyes filled with hatred and anger, "Yes... yes sir."  
  
"You seem unsure." Sin's voice was definitely amused now, seeming to taunt the demonic demi-human.  
  
Gabrielle glared even harder at the man, the rage building behind her eyes. She turned and left, cursing as she did so.  
  
"Good." Sin said quietly to himself. He sat at his desk, resetting the chess pieces to their starting positions...  
  
***********************************  
  
LightStrike sat up suddenly, accidentally waking up the sleeping Rain. She looked at him, "What's wrong?"  
  
LightStrike growled reassuringly and gently nudged her lovingly. She settled back down into her blankets and closed her eyes, wondering what had startled LightStrike. A sudden chill was sent down her spine and she shuddered slightly, her mind shifting to Koh.  
  
Koh, who was older than Nadia by a few minutes, had a completely different personality from his twin sister. He was always upbeat and happy, always finding pleasure in getting into mischief, especially on halloween--his birthday. He had a mean streak in him, that only showed itself when he was extremely angry, and could out glare even the mightiest of men. His tongue was also quite bad at times, insulting people who made him angry, or just accidentally swearing in front of her and Hiro. He took it upon himself to always protect Nadia, who he treated like gold, and was always there for her when she got into trouble.  
  
Once, while they were visiting Salt city, some older boys were picking on Nadia. She was twelve years old at the time, and the boys must have been about fifteen. When Koh saw what was happening, he rushed over and started insulting the boys, surprising even Rain with the words he had used. The boys of course laughed at him, threatening to beat him up, continuing to pick on Nadia.  
  
Koh, who was decently tall and quite strong, even at twelve years old, took the older boys up on their offer of a fight, punching out their leader in one hit. Of course, he didn't get away unscathed. He had a black eye for a week, and showed it off quite well, proud that he had taken out the four boys that had picked on his little sister.  
  
Koh remedied her so much of both Hiro and Cloud. He had Hiro's looks, wits, and charm; and Cloud's cunningness and mischievous personality. It was understandable. Cloud had loved Koh since he laid eyes on him as a baby, and was always taking care of him, and teaching him things. Even if they were things that would get him into trouble. They were quite inseparable, and shared quite a bond.  
  
Rain could tell that whenever Koh got into trouble or got hurt, Cloud, who always tried to hide it, was probably even more worried that she was. Hiro once said that it was because he loved his baby sister, Rain, so much that he couldn't help but love her kids as soon as he saw them.  
  
Rain covered up in the blanket tighter, trying to keep herself from crying. She sighed and whispered, "Koh..." Just before falling back asleep.  
  
LightStrike looked over at Rain worriedly, realizing just how heart broken she was. Before, if Rain had sustained injuries like she had now, she probably would already be up not listening to the words of protest from Cloud, Hiro, or any of the others. She would have insisted on repairing Kaiser right away, and wouldn't let any one keep her in bed even if her injuries did hurt badly. But now she stayed in bed, like the others told her to. She slept cried often, wishing that none of it had ever happened.  
  
But she still hung onto her hope. Even if she had become tired and mournful, she still insisted quite stubbornly that they were going to get Koh back. She insisted it very strongly, which made the others, and even LightStrike, very relieved.  
  
***********************************  
  
Sin sat, placing his gloved hand on a small black pawn three places from the left, and pushed it forward one space. He looked down at the chess board and said, "Let the final game begin..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 12~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Trust me, this fic probably has a long way until its done, even if the last line might suggest otherwise.  
  
Once again, thanks you guy's for reviewing! And I'm still waiting to hear what everyone did and got for Christmas!  
  
*Gabrielle looks over at you and says* hi reviewers.  
  
*I look over at her* What do you want?  
  
*She grins* Can I have the computer now?  
  
grrrrrr.  
  
She's had the computer almost every day since we got out of school, so im not updating as much as I would like to. Sorry about that. Now she's laughing at me for putting up what she's saying.... oh well. 


	13. Searching

Authors note: Ummmm... not much to say really except im lucky my sister stayed up with me last night ^_^ Unlike me if she stays up late, she can't get up early so I was able to jump on the computer! (I get up about 6 am -7 am every morning no matter how late I stay up...) I was up watching Tech TV They just aired this new show Anime unleashed -- starting with some anime called Crest of the Stars. (Its not fair that the western coast gets to see it at 10 pm, when the eastern coast has to wait till 1 am...) It seems pretty interesting by what I've seen so far (Only the first episode) but I absolutely hate the voice acting (shrudders... terrible actors... Terrible dubbed voice actors...)  
  
Anyways, Thanks for the reviews, and Himeko, im not really on a chess kick or anything, it's just that when I was coming up with the personality for Sin, the game seemed to fit him... so I used it for the story @_@  
  
CHAPTER 13  
  
The four zoids ran, or flew in Ayane's case, side by side along the scorching desert sands. It seemed like they had been heading in the same direction for forever now, but really it had only been about one hour since they left the waterfall base. It had stayed pretty quiet among them, each of them in either their own thoughts, or having nothing really to say.  
  
Nadia glance out ahead of her. The sky was gloomier in that direction, and dark billowing clouds seemed to start appearing from no where. It looked like a storm would hit soon, which wasn't good. If they were caught in a storm, it would slow there progress, and if it was a thunderstorm, it could fry the zoids circuits.  
  
"You see that?" Jessie asked Nadia suddenly.  
  
"Yeah..." Nadia replied, still looking at the clouds out ahead of her. She prayed a storm wouldn't start soon.  
  
Rion's face appeared in front of the Konig wolf pilot, "How much longer until we get there?"  
  
"We should only have about half an hour left... maybe an hour if the storm hits soon..." Nadia replied.  
  
***************************************  
  
"Damn it!" Cloud cursed as he checked another of the rooms, finding it empty, "Where did those four get off to!?" He dashed across the hall to Nadia's room, and cursed once again when he found it void of people.  
  
"C... Cloud...." Tyra ran up, out of breath. She had just ran up from the hanger, "Their... zoids are gone..." She took the time to catch her breath and continued, "Doc says that Rion's blade Ligar is gone too."  
  
The two made their way back to the main room, where the others had already gathered. Together, all the adults had searched the large base, hanger, and hover cargo for the two four missing teenagers, but to no avail. They were gone.  
  
"Im going out to look for them." Cloud said, rushing over to the wall and grabbing his jacket off the hook, "There's going to be a bad thunder storm today, so you guy's wait here, and I'll be back when I find them.  
  
"No way Cloud." Ryuji shook his head, "Ayane's my daughter. Im going to go too."  
  
"And Rion's missing too." Bit added, "No way im just going to sit around and wait... Im coming with you."  
  
"Im going as well." Zack said, "Jessie's gone. I intend to find him."  
  
After a few more minutes it had been decided that Cloud, Bit, Ryuji, Zack, Tyra, Rei, Jemie and Goji would all go out and look for the missing teenagers. Doc would follow them in the hover cargo.  
  
Leena, Brad, Naomi, Leon, Izumi, Ori and Lavender would all stay at the base and look over things.  
  
By this time the other teenagers were already awake, and when they saw the chaotic shuffling of the adults looking for the missing teenagers, they had decided to stay in the room and discuss what could have happened to their friends.  
  
Together they had pretty much come up with a good idea to where they went. Will had sugested that they went to the battlefield, because they all knew that Nadia wanted to get Koh's knife back, and Ayane wanted to find out more information on Copper... even if she didn't show it. Why Jessie and Rion would have gone still eluded them though.  
  
"I wonder how they got the zoids out without anybody noticing...." Hikari said, " Had to have been hard..."  
  
"They had to either have left really really early, or they had a whole lot of damn good luck on their side..." Kristen replied.  
  
"I bet it was more luck then timing." Shiro commented, "They were still here at six this morning when I got up to use the restroom. I went back to sleep after that though."  
  
Will looked over at the clock, "It's 8:30 now, so they had to have left between about six thirty and eight.... that's when our parents started looking for them."  
  
Suddenly Cloud walked though the door and looked over at the four teenagers that were left, "Some of us are going to look for Nadia and the others. You are all staying here. Got it?" Each one of them nodded in turn.  
  
Cloud sighed and left, closing the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps disappeared down the hall Kristen sneered, "How do ya like that.... Jeeze."  
  
"What will we be doing about this my friends..." Shiro said, "He tells us to stay, but, since when did we listen to what our parents told us?"  
  
"We follow them of course!" Kristen said, clapping her hands together over dramatically. Shiro grinned.  
  
Will and Hikari looked at the two scheming friends, and Will shook his head, "He said "some" of them were going. That means some of them are staying here to watch us." He emphasized on both the words "some" and "us".  
  
"Damn it!" Kristen slammed her fist into the bed, "Figures. Just like em to do that. Leave people here to make sure we don't do anything."  
  
*********************************  
  
"How much longer until we reach our destination?" Sin asked, his cloak still draped over his face, and the shadows still clinging to his body. He looked over at his newest recruit, who was looking out the Chaos-sin's window.  
  
"Not much." The recruit said, an emotionless, cold voice filling the air. It made Sin smile, "An hour. Hour and a half at most."  
  
"Good." Sin laughed, "And once we're done there, and I have what I want, we will have no trouble finishing my plan. Hopefully, the mistakes that the demi-human..." he paused, "made will not reflect upon us. That would not be good will it."  
  
"No. It wouldn't."  
  
"And of course... you will be my second in command during this time won't you?" Sin grinned, already knowing what his new recruit would say.  
  
"Yes." The recruit paused, "I won't be stopped by anything..." The man turned to face Sin, his blue eyes flashing, "I will do as you say, and kill them all."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 13~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: hehehe... hope you enjoyed it. Oh and of course.... Happy new year everyone! 


	14. Sin's New recruit

Authors note: Sorry for the delay. FF.net wasn't working, then It wouldn't let me log in. I had this chapter done a few days ago.  
  
And of course, thanks for all the great reviews! Here's the next chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 14  
  
"This isn't good..." Jessie said, glancing out in the direction they were traveling. It had become quite a bit darker due to the clouds that had gathered.  
  
"Those clouds are moving way to fast..." Rion added, "Nadia, how much farther?!"  
  
Nadia's face appeared through the com-link, "We should almost be there..." She paused, "Ayane, could you get a better view?"  
  
Ayane nodded and pushed forward on her controls, sending the GunGyarados into the air. She glided for a few minutes, "I can see the Ultrasaurus. It should be coming into your sights too..." She paused for a few seconds, then whispered, "It looks even worse than on the news..."  
  
The GunGyarados returned to it's place besides the Konig wolf, and the four friends continued on their course, each one worried about the storm clouds that looked like they would burst at any moment.  
  
Within a few seconds the beaten Ultrasaurus came into view. The large zoid that had seemed to so many to be invincible laid fallen, dead, among the burning desert sands. It's magnificent head half buried by the wind and sand. The dark clouds seemed to make it even worse, casting shadows along the ultrasaurus' armor.  
  
"Jeeze..." Rion sighed, unable to say anything else as the four teenagers slowed their zoids, all eyes fixed on the giant zoid in front of them. They had noticed that they weren't the only ones there, other zoid warriors and zoid pilots alike had come to see the fallen zoid. Some of them even cried at the sight. There were even various ZBC officials shuffling busily back and forth, some seemed to be in a panicked state of hurry, others seemed to be moving far slower than they could have.  
  
One man in general seemed to stick out among the ZBC crew. He was standing completely still, his back turned to the four teenagers. He seemed to be watching the ultrasaurus intently, as if nothing else mattered.  
  
The man had short, spiked dark brown hair, and was standing in an almost calm and collective way. Even though it didn't seem like it, he was noticing everything around him, even the four new warriors that had appeared on the scene. He turned to face the new arrivals looking at each one in turn, his dark brown, almost black eyes quickly scanning them.  
  
'Interesting,' He thought to himself, 'A black Konig Wolf, Lightning Siax, GunGyarados, and a white Blade ligar... I don't remember any team like that... very mismatched set of zoids.' He smiled inwardly as the four zoids approached him, taking an immediate liking to them. He didn't know exactly why, but he liked these four zoids already, and wanted to meet the pilots.  
  
Nadia opened a com-link with the others, "Hey does that guy look familiar to any of you?"  
  
Jessie nodded, "I've seen him somewhere, just can't place it." Ayane and Rion both nodded. Jessie sighed, "Well lets ask him if he's seen the knife, the quicker we get out of here the better."  
  
"Right." Nadia's face faded out.  
  
Jessie was the first to reach the man, he instructed his zoid to kneel, and opened the cockpit. Standing, the green haired teenager looked down at the official and nodded his greeting.  
  
Next was Ayane, who opened her cockpit as well, not taking any measures to greet the stranger. She just looked down at him, her gothic look seeming to fit the GunGyarados quite well. She sat on the edge of the zoids cockpit, looking over at the fallen Ultrasaurus.  
  
The white Blade Ligar came in up to the side of the GunGyarados, kneeling just like the Lightning Siax had. Rion stood as well, "Hello..."  
  
The man seemed amused at Rion. He looked quite familiar, and instantly he thought of the most famous pilot on all of Zi... he nodded at the teenager and asked, "You related to Bit Cloud?"  
  
Rion grinned sheepishly, looking exactly like his father, "My dad."  
  
"Ah," The man smiled, just as the last of the four zoids approached. It came up in between the GunGyarados and Lightning Siax, and the cockpit opened revealing a young girl with long silver hair and eyes. She stood, "Um hi..."  
  
The man instantly thought of the boy that the woman had, the strange woman with the armor... This girl, she looked very much like the boy... "Welcome, unfortunately I couldn't meet you on better circumstances," he waved a hand to the huge zoid behind him, "I am Commander Chris Fly-Height, and you are?"  
  
"Your a Fly-Height? As in defeat the Deathsoarer Fly-height?" Rion asked excitedly.  
  
Chris laughed slightly, he got that allot, "Yes, Van Fly-Height is my ancestor. Now please answer my question... Who are you?"  
  
"Rion Cloud." Rion answered, still shocked about meeting a Fly-Height.  
  
"Jessie Cooper."  
  
"Ayane Makeno."  
  
"Nadia Soleheart..." Nadia finished, jumping down out of her cockpit. The others followed suit.  
  
"I have one question for you." Chris stated, directing his attention to Nadia, "Are you in any relation to that boy... the one that the strange woman with armor had with her?"  
  
Nadia cringed, she was hoping to avoid that subject and just get the knife then leave. She looked up at the official and sighed, "Yes. He's my twin brother..."  
  
"I see." He fiddled with something in his pocket, and pulled it out. "Then this belongs to you."  
  
Nadia took the small bundle and opened it, surprised to see the knife that she had given Koh, "This is why we came here...." She sighed, taking a few seconds to gaze at the blade. It had been cleaned, and shone even in the dim light. "Thank you sir..."  
  
"No problem... now, can you perhaps explain what is going on?" Chris asked, "Any of you maybe?"  
  
Nadia sighed, "Well, I really don't know everything sir..." She still didn't' take her eyes off of Koh's knife, "It's hard for me to understand..."  
  
She was suddenly cut off by a loud clasp of thunder. Cold rain began to fall as the dark billowing clouds shifted. Bright Lighting flashed across the sky, illuminating the entire area. People began to run in various directions, and zoids were fleeing from the scene.  
  
"Damn! Nadia, we have to go now!" Jessie said, grabbing onto the girls arm and dragging her back toward the zoids, which the others had already started a dash towards. She looked back at the commander, "Im sorry I couldn't explain sir..."  
  
Chris looked up at the clouds, and looked back down to two of the four zoids come to life, the GunGyarados and Blade Ligar. A few seconds later Nadia and Jessie climbed into their cockpits, and their zoids roared to life.  
  
"Zeke!" Chris yelled through the storm. From seemingly out of nowhere a blue and white blade Ligar appeared, crouching at it's pilot. He climbed in and told the zoid, "Lets follow those kids. I want to make sure they get home ok, and I want answers." The zoid roared and bounded off, quickly coming up to the four dashing zoids.  
  
Jessie and Rion were out in front, Nadia following close behind. Ayane was flying besides them, low so that the lightning had less of a chance to fry the GunGyarados' circuits. She was also the first to notice the approaching Blade Ligar.  
  
"Hey kids." The commander's face appeared on their com-links, "I want answers, so, Im going with you. Any objections?"  
  
Another crack of lightning flashed across the ever darkening sky as the water began to beat gown harder. Each of the four teenagers shook their heads in turn, and Chris smiled, "Good."  
  
*********************************  
  
"We're here." The recruit stated, turning to leave the window.  
  
Sin nodded, and sarcastically said "Won't they be surprised to see us here?"  
  
The recruit, who was now standing in the doorway, turned his blue eyes on Sin, "I suppose they will... and it will be the last time they see us as well."  
  
"You may do as you wish with everyone except the two that I want. Understand?" Sin stated, "I will send in 15 other men with you... of course, all of them will be under your command."  
  
"Fine." The recruit turned with a quick wave of his hand and left, the door shifting shut behind him. He walked down the hallway and reached the elevator, pushing the buttons quickly. He leaned against the back wall of the elevator, and grasped his forehead painfully, his head wouldn't stop pounding...  
  
The door opened and he straitened himself out, ignoring his pounding headache. He walked down yet another hallway, finding himself face to face with the last person he wanted to see.  
  
The demonic demi-human cursed as she rounded the corner, coming face to face with the new "recruit". She glared angrily at him as she passed, wishing right then and there to tear his throat out. He snorted as she walked past, sticking his foot out slightly, and catching her off guard. She stumbled, but caught herself, angrily turning to face him. He grinned cruelly and left, entering the cockpit, where the 15 men Sin had promised were waiting.  
  
"Lets go." The recruit commanded, and turned, leaving the Chaos-sin with the 15 men following behind him, each one armed with both a handgun and a dagger.... "Time to make a massacre..."  
  
They snuck quietly to the waterfall base, and the recruit turned to face the men, "Come in only when I order you to."  
  
"Right sir." One of the men nodded, holding up his head set. The recruit nodded and put one on his head. The headset would keep him in contact with both Sin, and the 15 men at his disposal.  
  
The Chaos-sin itself was cloaked, and hidden quite a distance away. The recruit passed behind the waterfall, and walked into the zoid hanger, glancing left and right at the zoids. He cursed, pressing a small button on the headset,"Sin?"  
  
"What is it?" Sin asked.  
  
"Only a few of them are here. The others are all gone somewhere. Including Cloud."  
  
Sin chuckled, "Well, this gives me an idea. Don't kill any of the people here. We'll save that for later. You can do what you want with them, as long as you don't kill them. Tell me, is the other one there?"  
  
"You mean Rain?" The recruit asked, "Her zoid is here, so I would guess that she is."  
  
"Good. Here's my plan..."  
  
******************************  
  
Cloud and the others that had gone to search had lucked out. Footsteps from the teenagers zoids were clearly marked in the sand, some more clearly then others. They had completely disappeared now, the rain washing them away, but the adults were all pretty sure where the kids had went. They had followed them quite a distance, and the storm had picked up quite a bit. Suddenly Jemie's face appeared on his com-link.  
  
"Tyra a... me can ..ee them... They ... qu...e a bit ahead of ... and hea...g this way..." Jemie said, his voice and image faltering due to the storms interference. Cloud got the point though. Jemie and Tyra returned low to the ground, both of them not wanting to get struck by the dangerous lighting.  
  
Soon the four teenager's zoids had come into view of the angry adults, and Cloud yelled, "Nadia! Where the hell have you been damn it!"  
  
Nadia cringed at her uncles muffled voice and moaned, "Sorry...?" She tried.  
  
"Sorry!?" Cloud was cut off by a steak of lighting that illuminated a fifth zoid with the teenagers. It was a blue and white blade ligar.  
  
"Who?" Zack asked, just as another clasp of thunder sounded, messing up the com-link once again.  
  
The zoids all stopped and faced each other, the new blade ligar's pilots voice reaching all of them, "Can we save introductions for later? I for one would like to get out of the storm. When we do, you can yell at these four all you want..."  
  
Cloud swore and nodded, and Rei said, "Lets get back to the base everyone..."  
  
Chris followed the zoids closely, and at full speed, "Quite a collection..." He said to himself, "wouldn't you say so Zeke?"  
  
The blade ligar's roar was drowned out by the sound of the pounding rain and thunder....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 14~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
FanFiction is finaly working again... Yay! Anyways, next chapters gonna be up soon, cuz I really want to write it... it'll be kinda a bloody chapter...  
  
Well review and tell me whatcha think! 


	15. The demand for the Ryuu

Authors note: I killed my project in wood tech @_@. yep, it's pretty dead. Stupid nailgun wouldn't work... Split the back of my shelf... but Mr. Crawford (The wood tech teach.) said that we could probably bring it back to life... save the poor thing... Just thought I'd let you know since I don't have much else to say except thanks for the reviews!  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 15  
  
"Did all go according to plan?" Sin asked his new recruit, who had just returned from the Waterfall base.  
  
"Like clockwork." The recruit answered.  
  
"Good." Sin moved another chess piece, another pawn, "You may leave now and go rest."  
  
The recruit turned to leave, but stopped when Sin continued, "Oh, and tell the Demi-human I want to see her please."  
  
Nodding, the recruit walked through the door, and it shifted shut behind him. He walked down the hallways, heading toward the Chaos-sin's cockpit, where Gabrielle usually was. He took the main elevator, the one that led strain to the cockpit, and was not surprised to see Gabrielle waiting on the other side of the door. She cursed when she saw him, and they both wanted to kill each other right there on the spot.  
  
"Sin wants to talk to you." The recruit stated coldly, not leaving the elevator. Gabrielle cursed again and shuffled in next to him, pushing him out of the way slightly and pressing the button that led to Sin's floor. She turned to face the recruit, "Aren't you leaving?"  
  
"Im going to my room." He answered as the elevator doors closed, "And you know just as well as I do that this elevator is the quickest and closest one."  
  
Gabrielle seemed to growl, "Fine. You room is on the second level isn't it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good. Then you'll grace me with your leave soon." She spat, not hiding the venom in her voice.  
  
The two stood in silence for the most uncomfortable few minutes of their lifetimes. Neither one could stand to be near the other, and now they were stuck in an elevator together. Each of them had their own thoughts of killing, hurting, obliterating, massacring, and any other painful thought they could have about the other.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was only about two minutes, the elevator dinged and the door opened to the second level, and the recruit stepped out. He shoved past the demi-human, who hissed at his back as the door closed.  
  
"Stupid demi-human..." The recruit muttered to himself, as he gripped at his forehead, "Make my damn head hurt worse..." He walked over to his room, and typed in the access code on the doors control panel. It opened with a small beep, and he walked in. Throwing himself onto his bed he reached over to a bedside table and picked up some aspirins that laid there. Gulping them down with no water, he pulled the pillow over his head and tried to fall asleep, despite the pounding of his head.  
  
**********************************  
  
The rain continued to beat down hard, never ceasing, only getting worse. All the adults, save Chris, were suddenly reminded of the night twenty years ago, when Luke used Rain to attack them. This storm, the one that was tormenting them now, seemed almost exactly like the one back then. It was completely nerve racking, and it was the reason the adults were perhaps a bit more angry and pushy that they would have normally been.  
  
They had all gotten into the hover cargo, deciding that it was safer than piloting their zoids back to the base. The parents of the four "escapees" were busy dragging the kids to the main room, either shouting their lungs out at them, or being deathly silent. To tell the truth, the four kids already knew that they were in deep trouble.  
  
Chris just followed everyone as they made their way up to the main room, slightly smiling in amusement as the four teenagers, who were all staying quiet as their parents dragged them, were being forced down the hallways. He could tell that these parents were being a bit more forceful then they normally were. He didn't know why, but he could tell that they were very uneasy about something. The door to the main room opened, and Doc looked solemnly at the four nervous teens, then silently turned his gaze to the new man with them.  
  
He nodded his greeting to Chris, who nodded back as the others pushed their way past them and to the couches. Chris sat in a chair that was out of the way, and watched the scene play out, deciding he wouldn't cut in until the time was right.  
  
Cloud was the first to reach the couches, shoving Nadia gently onto the biggest one in the middle, and standing back, his arms crossed. Hiro stood next to him, unsure of anything to say to his daughter.  
  
"Sit, Ayane." Ryuji said calmly, and watched as his only daughter took a seat next to Nadia silently.  
  
Bit was next, and was by far the most rough, forcing Rion next to Ayane, his angry features clear on his face.  
  
Last was Zack, who pressed Jessie onto the couch on the other side of Nadia. Jessie winced slightly, knowing he would get quite an earful before they reached the base.  
  
It was silent... for all of about three seconds. Then all hell broke loose and Cloud cursed a little more loudly than he meant to, "What the HELL did you think you were DOING?!"  
  
Doc walked over to the hover cargo controls, deciding to stay out of it. Even though Rion was his grandson, and he was quite angry, he knew that his son-in-law would give the boy a good tongue lashing.  
  
Tyra, Rei, Jemie, and Goji all decided to sit on the other side of the room, opposite the side of Chris, and watch. They were silent through the whole thing.  
  
"Well, we..." Nadia began after a few seconds but paused, trying to figure how to word her sentences.  
  
"WHAT?!" Cloud yelled. Nadia cringed defensively. Her uncle was extremely uptight today, and she didn't know why. Her father also seemed way too upset.  
  
Jessie saw how nervous Nadia was and spoke up, "Lay off. She went for the knife."  
  
Cloud looked over at him and sighed angrily, the events of the past few days, and the remembrance of 20 years ago getting to him.  
  
"And you went with her!?" Bit yelled, "You all went!? How stupid of an idea do you think that was!? With Sin running around and all," Apparently the events were getting to him as well.  
  
Chris looked up at Bit, maybe he would get a few answers now.  
  
"You have the nerve to leave that early in the morning, and run out to the battlefield," Bit continued, he was cut off.  
  
"When GABRIELLE is out there somewhere!" Cloud added, "Do you know how worried we were!?"  
  
"Or scared!?" Ryuji put in, a bit calmer than the two, that had so far carried the conversation. He was still quite angry, "You don't know how dangerous Gabrielle is!"  
  
"Is she as dangerous as you were!?" Ayane snapped back, unable to hold it in any longer. She was scared, upset, angry and she wanted answers. As soon as she released what she had said she closed her mouth and cursed at herself inwardly.  
  
Ryuji was taken aback... gasping he could feel tears surfacing, but he held them back as best he could. The shock of what his daughter, the one thing that he loved more than life itself, had just said hit him full force. His mind was screaming it's hatred to Copper, who, of course, was gone. So it was more like he was hating himself. He knew that it wasn't his fault Copper had hurt, or even killed so many people... but... in a way.  
  
Ryuji turned away, his face pale and thoughtful. He walked over to a chair and plopped down into it, looking down at the ground as if he had found it interesting.  
  
"Oh my God," Ayane cursed, looking down, unable to look at the shocked faces around her, "Dad..." She closed her eyes, wishing she could take it back, "Im so sorry..."  
  
It was silent for a while, the argument seeming to be over. Finally, after quite a bit of time Ryuji dryly asked, "Did you get it?" He still looked at the floor, unable to lift his gaze, "The knife I mean... Did you find it Nadia?"  
  
Nadia sighed, "Yeah... Mr. Fly-Height had it..."  
  
"Who?" Hiro asked.  
  
"Me." Chris spoke up, his eyes scanning the room, "I found it when I arrived on the battlefield to pay my last respects to the Ultrasaurus."  
  
"Fly-Height, huh?" Doc asked from the controls, "I knew you looked familiar, aren't you the leader of the ZBC organization?"  
  
"Yes." Chris answered.  
  
"So your ancestor is Van Fly-Height." Doc continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you of course, I am sorry you had to listen to this conversation."  
  
The others nodded in agreement, the kids staying silent and not averting their gazes from the laps or the floor.  
  
"When I saw the knife on the ground I recognized it from the broadcasting. It was the one that the boy had used against the woman. I picked it up." Chris explained, "Then when I saw her," He pointed to Nadia, "She reminded me of the boy, so I asked her if she was related. She told me she was, and I gave the knife to her."  
  
"I see." Cloud said, "So, I suppose you want some kind of explanation?"  
  
"That is part of the reason why I decided to follow them." Chris nodded, "That, and me and Zeke wanted to make sure they would get home ok, storm and all."  
  
"Zeke?" Doc asked, "Isn't that the organoid?"  
  
"So you know about organoids? Not many people do anymore..." Chris smiled slightly, "Yes, Zeke is an organoid, the same one from my ancestors time. He's stayed as part of the family ever since then."  
  
"Yeah, we know about organoids. We have one ourselves." Cloud said, "He's back at the base. His name is LightStrike."  
  
"I see. I thought Zeke was the only one left..." Chris replied, "May I ask a question?"  
  
"Shoot." Bit said, sitting with the other adults.  
  
"Do you know exactly what's going on? Because the ZBC has no clue. We aren't supposed to tell the public that, but hell, we need answers."  
  
Cloud sighed, looking over at a small clock, "Well... we have time before we reach the base, especially with the storm...."  
  
*****************************************  
  
By the time they neared the base, Cloud had explained things in a nutshell, from the MCME, to Luke, to the Demi-humans. He had, thought with one glance at Ryuji, left out the parts about Copper. God knew that Ayane's blow had hurt Ryuji enough already.  
  
When they reached the base the adults immediately knew something was wrong. It was a feeling each of them shared... something wasn't right. After all their ordeals and hardships it seemed they had learned to sense when something was wrong. And it scared them.  
  
Without realizing it Cloud dashed out of the hover cargo, the others not far behind. The storm was still raging, and lighting illuminated the small group that ran across the oasis, and towards the waterfall.  
  
Chris followed at a distance, along with the four teenagers and Zeke. They all neared the waterfall, and a feeling of dread came over them.  
  
'Something's wrong!' Cloud thought to himself, not bothering to take the long way around for he was already wet, he dashed strait through the cold waterfall into the dark cave beyond. The others followed, and it took some time for their eyes to adjust... Cloud saw it first.  
  
"LightStrike!" Cloud dashed across the hard rock floor, toward where the fallen organoid laid. On top of him was an electric impulse net, rendering him completely helpless. The organoids eyes were dim.  
  
Not caring about the pain that surged through his hands as he touched the still active net, Cloud ripped it off the organoid with tears in his eyes, "Common buddy..." A sudden realization hit him... if LightStrike was damaged...  
  
"Rain!" Cloud jumped up suddenly, running into the base with everyone hot oh his heels. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw a pool of blood on the ground, the dark liquid running down the hallway.  
  
Everyone was scared now. They dashed down the hall, faster than they ever had run before and flung into the pitch black main room, some of them tripping on the stairs. Cloud could smell it. As could everyone else.  
  
Blood. The entire room ranked of it... but they couldn't see. It was dark. Jemie turned on the light and gasped...  
  
Rei cried out first, "Izumi!" he jumped over the couch to where Izumi lay, her long black hair curled in a pool of her own blood. She had a gash down her shoulder, and all down her arm. Her head had a large cut running from the edge of her hairline to her ear, and her temple was bruised.  
  
Gently warping his arms around his wife, Rei made no attempt to stop his tears. Her blood stained his own clothes, as he pulled her closer, a small trickle escaping from her partially open mouth. Her cold skin brushed softly against his, sending shivers down his spine. He quickly shifted his grip so he could check her neck for a pulse...  
  
And found one. It was faint, but there was definitely a pulse.  
  
"Thanks god..." He cradled her closer, gently lifting her head out of the pool of blood that had formed beneath her.  
  
Her eyes fluttered open softly, scanning Rei's terrified face... she quietly whispered, "The...others..." She coughed slightly, "The others.... are... " She lifted her good hand towards the hallway, where the kids room was, "They... took.... some of..."  
  
"Oh my God..." Jemie was the first to realize what she was saying. He took off like a bullet and the others followed. Rei, Zack, the four teens and Chris stayed behind with Izumi.  
  
Izumi had tears streaming down her cheeks, "We... we tried to stop them..." She coughed again, "They... took them" She gasped as he picked her up as gently as possible, and headed down the hallway towards the Infirmary. Zack, the kids and Chris followed. Zeke had been instructed to stay behind with the other organoid, and inform the group if something came.  
  
What the others saw when they reached the kids room horrified them... four bodies laid sprawled in front of the door, blood running all down the hallway. Hand prints of blood were just above the broken control panel and the same crimson liquid that stained the floor was running down the wall. The smell reached everyone, making them each retch as they saw their loved ones.  
  
"Leena!" Bit dropped to his knees, checked for a pulse and was pleased to find one. her chest had a gash that sent hot blood flooding onto Bit's jacket as he lifted her off the ground and took off towards the infirmary.  
  
Goji, saying nothing, picked a battered and blood covered Lavender up off the floor, her obviously broken arm hanging limp at her side. She had been shot in the side. He followed Bit without saying anything or doing anything except checking for a pulse.  
  
Tyra sobbed aloud as she kneeled next to Leon, who also had a pulse. The left side of his face had a long gash, and his clothes were torn at his chest where another gash graced his skin. Blood everywhere.  
  
Brad was the last one, his temple was bruised and he had blood coming from his mouth. Two bullet holes found themselves in his shoulder, and his knuckles were bloody. He was obviously the one who had punched out the control panel for the kids door. Jemie checked him out just as Goji and Bit came back to help carry Brad and Leon.  
  
Jemie then dashed through the open door and into the kids room finding it empty.  
  
A yell of anger was heard coming from Cloud down the hallway, as well as something crashing.  
  
The group ran to Rains room, where Cloud was standing, his fists pounding into the wall. Something was written above him, in blood.  
  
It read, "We have the others. The Tenshi is in our possession as well. If you want them back... we want The Ryuu." Below the message was a set of coordinates, "Come here, and turn him in."  
  
The ones missing were Orihime, Naomi, Will, Shiro, Kristen, Hikari., and...  
  
Rain.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 15~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Long chappy. Sad Chappy. Took a long time to write. Read and review please! 


	16. A different heart beat

Authors note: Grrrr. I hate my mom for getting me sick... Can't breath... stuffy nose. I had a headache yesterday, but that's gone so I guess Im getting better. Just got a stuffy nose.... (I hats stuffy noses.)  
  
I brought my wood-tech project back to life (Yay) and it's almost finished.  
  
Himeko: You don't have a wood-tech class in your middle school? Mine had one, cept it was just called Tech. I took it in 8th grade because it's not open for 7th graders. I didn't really want it this year, but we have like, the largest freshmen class that the school's ever had (I go to a really really big school) and most of us didn't get a choice in our electives this year because there just wasn't enough room for everybody. (I wanted art, but.... didn't work out)  
  
Anyways, I've been kinda busy (My mom's making me draw some pictures that I really don't feel like drawing for her friend at work @_@) And I've been slightly (Not too bad) sick. My sister has had the computer for every day within the last week. Oh, and I've been working on an original Anime story that I plan on posting soon.  
  
Ok, enough babbling on, here's the next chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 16  
  
Will groaned slightly bringing an unsteady hand up to his closed eyes. He rubbed them as he turned onto his stomach, feeling the cold stone floor underneath him. Coughing slightly his eyes fluttered open, revealing a dark, tourchlit room, 'Or dungeon' he thought. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, and looked around. His vision was a bit fuzzy, after all, he didn't have his glasses on, but he could tell that there were three other people lying in the room, each one he guessed was unconscious.  
  
Slowly he shuffled over to the first person, and recognized her immediately as Hikari. He shook her shoulder gently, "Hikari. Come on, wake up..."  
  
The young fourteen year old moaned as Will continued to shake her. She opened her eyes and looked up at his worried face, "Will?"  
  
"Yeah. Are you ok?" He watched as she sat up, rubbing her sore head. It was hard for him to tell in the dark, damp room, especially since his vision was blurry without his glasses, but it looked like a nice bruise had formed on the side of her face.  
  
Hikari nodded as she looked around, a bit confused, "Will, where are we?"  
  
"I don't know." Will replied, shuffling over to the next body. Hikari went to his side and nodded, "Shiro."  
  
"You wake him up, I'll try to wake up Kristen." Will stated, going over to Kristen.  
  
Hikari nudged Shiro carefully, and he showed an immediate reaction by coughing and saying something that sounded very much like a very naughty curse. He slowly pushed himself to his feet just as Will got his reaction from Kristen.  
  
"God, Damn it!" Kristen mumbled, brushing her dark blue hair out of her face. Her hand had a bruise along the knuckles, and she winced as she flexed her sore fingers, "What the hell's going on?"  
  
"I don't know..." Will replied, "But those people came, remember?"  
  
"Yeah..." Shiro added, "And our parents locked us in the room, so that we wouldn't get hurt."  
  
"Then those people got in anyway..." Hikari said, "Then I blacked out..."  
  
"Oh yeah!" Kristen smiled slightly, "I got one of them good in the jaw... And I think Shiro managed to break one of their noses."  
  
Shiro grinned, "Yep. But there was too many of them and I remember being hit in the back of the neck by something." He rubbed his neck.  
  
"So where are we?" Kristen asked, looking around the dark chamber.  
  
"Probably captured by that Sin guy..." Will answered, "I think I heard one of them say something about him, and how some plan was going smoothly or something..."  
  
Shiro and Kristen both cursed in unison. Hikari sighed and Will rubbed his eyes again, wishing he had his glasses. Now they remembered. Sin was going to use them as hostages to get Cloud.  
  
"Well not anymore..." Shiro replied, "We're going to get out of here. Lets find the door."  
  
The teenagers nodded and spread out into different directions through the darkness. After a few minutes Hikari called, "Over here you guy's, I found it."  
  
The others ran up to her and quieted down, just as they heard a pair of voices outside the door, "Sin wants us to check on them and see if they're still unconscious..." One of the voices stated.  
  
"Shhhh." Kristen brought a hand to her lips as she turned to Shiro. He nodded, realizing what she wanted to do and pushed past Will and Hikari to get on one side of the door. Kristen got on the other and the two pressed their backs against the wall. She motioned for Will and Hikari to get out of sight and they complied, disappearing into the darkness of the room.  
  
"What does Sin want with a bunch of useless kids anyway?" The other voice asked, as the small beeping of someone inserting an input code into a control panel came through the door and to the two waiting teens ears.  
  
"Who knows. Maybe he wants to use them like he does that other one..." The first voice answered, "Ah damn, what's the last two numbers again?"  
  
'Other one?' Shiro thought, 'They must mean Koh!' He looked to Kristen who was obviously thinking the same thing.  
  
"7 and 0." The second voice replied, "That other one is creepy... His room is on the second level right? I always try and stay clear of him.... he makes me more nervous that Sin does."  
  
Kristen and Shiro exchanged confused glances at this statement, wondering what it could have meant. The sound of two last numbers being imputed into the control panel met their ears and they backed up a few steps, waiting for the door to open.  
  
The door shifted open, and in walked the first guard. He wore a dark blue vested uniform, and a black helmet. He was unarmed, and totally unprepared.  
  
Shiro tackled the man as soon as he walked through the door, taking him to the floor easily. Shiro was quite strong, taking after his father in that aspect, and was a bit bigger than the guard who had decided to come in first. One swing to the gut rendered the man unconscious.  
  
"What's going on in there?!" The second called, unable to see much in the dark room. He saw his comrade taken down and immediately dashed in, his gun drawn.  
  
Kristen smirked as she stuck her foot out, catching the second guards shin. He tripped and fell face first, and she kicked at the side of his head with her boots, which were mettle tipped and could cause a lot of damage. The mettle of her boots met the mettle of his helmet... He was out cold in a matter of seconds.  
  
"Ok, you can come out you two..." Shiro said into the darkness. His two friends that had hidden themselves in the shadows suddenly seemed to materialize, stepping into the little bit of light they had.  
  
Kristen knelt besides the man she had taken out and grabbed a set of card keys that were hanging from his belt. She also found a handgun, and a small dagger.  
  
"Here." She said, handing the dagger to Will, "I don't know exactly, but just in case we need to use it..."  
  
"Will come here." Shiro said, "His vest is too small for me. Put it on. I have a plan."  
  
"What?!" Will asked, walking over to Shiro.  
  
"Just do it." Shiro paused and turned to Kristen, "Can you fit in his?"  
  
Kristen looked it over, "Yeah. I can manage..."  
  
"Wait a second, why me?" Will asked.  
  
"Listen, I won't fit in either of these guys' uniforms... Im too big. And Hikari is too small. so that leaves you and Kristen. Put on their vests, and get their helmets on. I have a plan."  
  
***********************************  
  
"Cloud... calm down!" Tyra pleaded, just as the angered Light-Feather punched another hole in the wall.  
  
"Calm down!?" Cloud yelled, "Damn it Tyra! I should have been here! Sin has Rain! And the others!"  
  
"What would you have done!?" Ryuji said, walking up besides Tyra. They were in the main room of the base, the injured were all resting in the infirmary... All of them would live, thank God, but they were each hurt pretty badly. None of them would be able to pilot their zoids any time soon.  
  
Izumi was the only one that had woken up, and had told them that Sin had a new recruit that kept his face hidden behind a cloak. This recruit, along with some of Sins own men, had stormed into the base and opened fire. She had stalled them while the others had gone to protect the kids. When it was discovered that they had no chance Brad had punched out the controls to the kids bedroom door, so that it wouldn't open. Unfortunately, after a while they still managed to get in and take them.  
  
"Ryuji's right Cloud..." Zack stated, as calmly as possible, "What would you have done? If you would have been here, they probably would have killed us all and taken both you and Rain."  
  
Cloud punched another hole into the wall and let his arm stay half buried in the plaster. They were right, "But... I could have at least helped..."  
  
"No, you know that's not true..." Tyra replied. She sighed and brushed a bit of her hair from her face... Why did this always happen to them?  
  
"He's going to use her..." Cloud sobbed, still facing the wall. He let his head rest against it, "I just feel it..."  
  
"Now we don't know that for sure...." Doc said. He, Ayane, and Chris were sitting on one couch. Ayane was silent, and Chris was just sitting there, still unsure about some things.  
  
Rei, Goji, and Hiro sat on another couch, each pondering his own thoughts. Hiro was angered at himself, just as much as Cloud was for not being there... and he hated Sin for what he had done. First Sin takes Koh, his son... Then Rain, his wife...  
  
The third couch was occupied by Nadia, Jessie and Zack. Nadia was crying, Jessie was silent and Zack was arguing with Cloud at the moment.  
  
Rion, Bit, and Jemie were in the infirmary. Jemie was doing everything he possible could to keep himself from breaking down with worry over Orihime. Rion and Bit were devastated over Leena.  
  
"I do know it Doc!" Cloud sighed, "He's going to turn her into a Demi- human again... I can feel it..."  
  
Nadia let out a sob and Jessie tried to comfort her as much as possible. She pushed herself away from him and jumped up, dashing quickly out of the room and out the door.  
  
"Nadia!" Jessie was about to get up and chase her, but Zack grabbed his arm and held him back.  
  
"She won't go anywhere..." Zack stated. Jessie shot a very quick look of annoyance at his father and pulled away, shuffling out the door behind Nadia.  
  
Everyone was silent for a while, and finally Cloud turned around and faced the group. His arm was cut and bloody, and was dripping down over his even worse knuckles. He had wet streaks leading from his eyes down his cheeks, and his face was covered in a look of despaired.  
  
"I know where those coordinates are." He stated quietly, "Im going. I know what he wants."  
  
"Cloud!" Rei yelled, "Be reasonable!"  
  
"Shut up Rei!" Cloud yelled, his eyes flashing.  
  
"Cloud, we don't know what he really wants." Goji stated.  
  
"Yes we do." Cloud replied, "You all know just as well as I do what he wants."  
  
Everyone was silent for a few moments, and Hiro looked up. Yes, they knew.  
  
"The Demon..." Cloud whispered now, his head hanging low and facing the ground, "The Tenshi..." He paused, clenching his fists causing even more blood to run down his arm, "And The Ryuu..." With this he brought a hand up to his heart and felt for the beat. Ever sense then... ever since that time when he wasn't a human, and wasn't a zoid... it had felt different. His heart beat had felt hollow... uneven... and different.  
  
After some time Cloud looked up, his hand still on his chest and said, "Im going. I'll make an exchange. He'll have to set the kids, Ori and Naomi free if he wants me."  
  
"Cloud!" Hiro stood, walking up to his brother-in-law, "You can't go. We can save them... the kids, Ori, Naomi..." He paused, "And Rain."  
  
"Hiro, listen to me." Cloud stated coldly, "Im going. You aren't stopping me."  
  
"I can try." Hiro replied.  
  
Cloud actually smiled for a brief second, looking Hiro in the eyes, "Now I know why Rain loves you so much..."  
  
Hiro was confused for a brief second, unsure by what Cloud meant, "Cloud... Im going with you."  
  
Cloud shook his head, but was stopped from saying anything by Hiro.  
  
"I know exactly where those coordinates lead." Hiro added.  
  
"Yeah. I figured you would." Cloud replied.  
  
"So where do they lead?" Goji suddenly cut in.  
  
Cloud and Hiro looked at each other briefly, "Luke's old castle..." The stated in perfect unison...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of chapter 16~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Oh my God... I just remembered!  
  
I have Finals next week! NOOOOOOOO.  
  
Monday is a full day, where all the teachers review...  
  
Tuesday is half a day, when we take our 1st and 2nd hour finals...  
  
Wensday is a half day, and we take our 3rd and 4th hour finals...  
  
And, Thursday.... You guessed it, is a half day where we take out 5th and 6th hour finals...  
  
But then on friday we have no school...  
  
Im gonna cry... I don't wanna take either of my 1st or 2nd hour finals... 1st hour is science, and most of the Final is going to be on Astrology. Damn. We had so much confusing crap @_@ and second hour is Gym. I hate gym. We have a few written exams on the games we've played... and then the dreaded running (An endurance test damn it!) I hate running... And there's 100 of us in there taking these tests at the same time! Man... I don't wanna run... I hate it sooooooooo much.... 15 minutes is to long to have all 4 gym teachers yelling at you to keep up the pace... (I hate that too. My Gym teacher adds more time to our running if we slow down. I swear I've almost passed out more then once because a bunch of preps walked and she kept adding time... @_@ One poor girl did black out and get sick.) I mean come on... Im thin, but still kinda out of shape... to much running...  
  
Oh God... WISH ME LUCK! 


	17. Plan in motion

Authors note: Umm, yeah. Im late, I know, im really sorry. My friend Jon introduced me to kingdom hearts the week after finals, and I played it the weekend that I stayed at his house. Then, my friend Ryan came over and introduced me to another fine game called phantasy star. And he let me borrow Star fox adventures. He spent the night last weekend, and we stayed up till like, 3 am watching serial experiments Lain.  
  
Something really serious happened at school today that I saw from the begining to the end, and im not going into detail because I don't feel like being sick all over again. Im going to type this chapter to try and take my mind off of it. Conner (Sbiggster/ Cloud), I told you what happened already on Aim.  
  
Anyways, heres the next chapter.  
  
CHAPTER 17  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Will said, shaking his head. He had one of the guards uniforms on, all except the helmet, which he held at his side, "And I really, really don't want to do this."  
  
"Stop complaining Will." Shiro demanded, he had piled the two unconscious guards over in a corner.  
  
"But Shiro..."  
  
"No buts." Shiro interrupted, running a hand through his dark hair and sighing, "Listen. Do you want that Sin guy, and that freak Gabrielle, or whatever the hell her name is, to use us?" He scanned Will's eyes and watched as the young raynos pilot looked down to the floor, "I didn't think so."  
  
"Ok, lets do this!" Kristen said, completely disguised by the guard uniform she was wearing. The helmet covered most of her face, and she had tucked her dark blue hair into it.  
  
"Ok everyone, you know the plan." Shiro instructed. He took one of the torches off the wall and set it on the ground where no straw lay. Then, he took bits and pieces of straw, and laid it in a line, a small line from the torch to a larger pile across the room. That way, it the flames would slowly eat away at the straw until it reached the pile. Then, it would set the entire room ablaze.  
  
Hikari and Shiro left the room first, with the disguised Will and Kristen following them, seeming to lead them down the hallways. The two "captives" had loose shackles around their wrists, that could be easily removed for emergency. If asked where they were headed, Kristen or Will would reply that Sin had given them special orders to move these two captives, to keep them separated from their friends.  
  
"Lets try and find your mom and Naomi," Shiro whispered to Will through the corner of his mouth, "And Koh. Those two guards said he was somewhere on the second level..."  
  
Will nodded slightly as they turned a corner, coming face to face with the one person they had least expected.  
  
The demonic demi-human known as Gabrielle.  
  
*********************************  
  
"Damn it all!" Jessie yelled, as another piece of rock crumbled underneath his bloody fingertips. Unfortunately, the pounding of the rain had drowned out his yell. He was chasing after they young Konig wolf pilot who had dashed out of the base earlier, and she had taken off up the cliffs of the waterfall. Obviously, she was a much more experienced climber than he was, and she was so far ahead of him.  
  
Not to mention the never ending beat down of the rain hadn't given him a break. The rock face was very slippery, and it kept crumbling when he tried to get a good hold. Lighting kept gracing the sky, and the wind was blowing his dark green hair and clothes, making it even harder to climb.  
  
He watched as Nadia had almost slipped, barely catching herself, something he had done many time's now. But at the height they were at, if one of them fell, they could be seriously hurt.  
  
"Nadia!" Jessie yelled, "Damn it Nadia! Stop, this is way to dangerous!"  
  
There was no answer, as the wind, rain, and thunder had quieted his loud yell to nothing but a whisper. Nadia continued to climb, never slowing, and slipping quite occasionally.  
  
"Nadia!" He yelled again, still trying to get her attention, but to no avail. She continued to climb, and eventually made it to the top. From what Jessie could see, she pulled herself over the edge slowly, and stood up wobbly. As soon as she regained her balance, it seemed as though she had taken of at a sprint.  
  
Jessie cursed and continued to climb, eventually making it to the top. He pulled himself weakly over, and took the time to catch his breath. Once it had returned to him, he looked up and found the girl he was looking for no where in sight.  
  
"Jeese." He stood up and looked around. To his right was a large wall of rocks that went forward for quite a distance, various trees and vines wrapped themselves around. To his left and ahead of him slightly was a large crater.  
  
"Nadia where the hell are you!?" Jessie hollered at the top of his lungs. No answer.  
  
He walked along the wall of rocks, brushing the water from his eyes and stumbling forward slightly. Eventually he came to an arch way in the rocks, and walked through, suddenly finding himself facing the full force of the wind. His dark green hair whipped, and his clothes billowed out behind his body.  
  
He stared forward into the darkness when suddenly a large streak of lightning illuminated the entire sky. Almost at the exact same time the roar of thunder made itself present.  
  
But the light had brought something to his watery eyes. The silhouette of a lone, thin, figure standing on a large flat rock, next to a small tree. Her back was to him, and her long silver hair whipped out behind her, much like the trench coat-like outfit she was wearing. Her head was tilted toward the sky, and the rain beat down on her small form. She had her hands hanging down at her sides, and she just stood there.  
  
"Nadia!" Jessie called, but cursed when he realized she probably couldn't hear him. He began to dash over to her, when another streak of lightning appeared.  
  
It illuminated the sky, and the crack of it's speed could be heard. While the light was still present Nadia turned her head and faced the oncoming Jessie. Even in the rain and darkness he could tell she had been crying.  
  
***********************************  
  
"Cloud..." Doctor Tauros said, placing a comforting hand on the Light- Feathers shoulder, "If you go... you do realize he'll just use you. The he'll have exactly what he wants."  
  
Cloud was silent and was standing at the glass wall of the base, staring down at the zoids below.  
  
"He knows." Hiro said quietly. Cloud nodded and turned to face the group. Of the original MCME incident group, only a fraction of them remained uninjured or uncaptured so far.  
  
Goji sat, his once cold, emotionless eyes had changed a bit from when they had all first met. Now they did show some emotion, not much, but some, and he had become quite a bit "warmer" with the group.  
  
Tyra was very much the same, being one of the youngest of the original MCME group. She hadn't changed in personality much at all, and still cared deeply for all her friends. The way she acted kind of made her like a mediator in arguments. She sat in a comfortable chair, keeping her eyes on Cloud.  
  
Ryuji was probably the one that changed the most if you considered the whole Copper thing. He had become quite successful with his junk dealing business, but his original personality had remained; his kindness and caring. He stood, deep in his own thoughts.  
  
Zack had also changed a bit. Once their enemy, now one of their most precious friends. He no longer went by the name Zero, and had said that he never again would, unless he felt that he truly needed to for some reason or another. If he was forced to fight for his friends or son till the death, or if he was the last of them, he would become Zero once again. But, only if the need were to arise.  
  
Bit, Jemie, and Doc were much the same as they used to be, just older. Doc's old age had began to show it's face, and his hair had grayed a bit, but he was the same old doc... if not just a bit forgetful at times. Jemie looked older of course, being the youngest of the original blitz team. He hadn't changed much at all in personality. Bit was still as Bit, with a personality that was completely unique. and his looks had changed almost zero percent. The three of them were standing next to Cloud for support.  
  
The rest... They were either injured or captured. Lavender... Leena... Izumi... Leon... Brad... Each of them lay in the infirmary, Izumi being the only one who had so far woken up.  
  
Orihime and Naomi were captured. Somewhere deep within the Chaos-sin, in Sin and Gabrielles clutches. Rain was there as well, but for a much different reason. Sin absolutely needed her. She was, after all, the Tenshi.  
  
LightStrike, the organoid that had belonged to the Light-Feather family since he was discovered by Koh Light-feather, Rain and Cloud's father, and stayed the same completely.  
  
The last of them was Cloud. He had changed a bit in looks over the past 21 years, his face now appeared older, more mature. He was 42 years, and until now he seemed to still hold his 21 year old self. He was 21 when the MCME incident had brought them all together 21 years ago, and was 22 when he became a demi-human 20 years ago.  
  
They were the original group who had been together since the start. And now 21 years later from the very beginning of it all, only some of them remained able to fight.  
  
But... there group had become quite a bit larger since then.  
  
"You guy's..." Cloud said, his eyes on the floor. Thoughts flowing through his head...  
  
Their kids. So youthful and energetic each in their own way, had suddenly been thrown into this mess. Of the total of nine, only 4 were completely accounted for. Will, Hikari, Shiro, Kristen and Koh had been captured.  
  
Chris was the newest of them all. A ZBC official, and ancestor to the famous Van Fly-height, the legendary defeater of the deathsoarer. He had an organoid partner, Zeke, who was also the same zoid that Van had been with. He had become an immediate ally.  
  
"Im going to end this once and for all." Cloud finished, "I won't let him have the kids, Ori or Naomi, Rain, or any one else. I won't let him. I promise."  
  
"Cloud..." Rei Sighed, but was interrupted.  
  
"I promise." Cloud repeated, "I will end it. And we can live normal lives again."  
  
Chris noted his determination and looked over at the two present kids. He only hoped he could help. The ZBC had prepared for something like this, and if all else failed, he had a plan that might be able to save the world from Sin... but he had to wait, it wasn't quite ready yet.  
  
~~~~~End of Chapter 17~~~~~  
  
Authors note: As I said earlier... Something happened at school today that really got to me. I typed this chapter after I told Sbiggster on Aim (The person who submitted Cloud Light-Feather way back when) about it, trying to get my mind off of it.  
  
Unfortunately it didn't work. So im gonna go take a nice, long, hot shower, and probably go to bed right after, seeing as though im not hungry.  
  
Once again sorry for the delay in the chap. Next one won't have such a delay I promise. 


	18. Watching each others back

Authors note: Yeah, um, about what happened at school... None of you know how bad my class is with fights. One week we had 5 fights in 4 days, a fake fight, a drug bust, and in december we had like, 6 students who overdosed, and a lot of fights (Then we had an assembly about it, where we were free to talk with our class reps, and say what we want... so some genius pulls out a cigarette and passes it down the isle.) . Our class isn't exactly the best. So when there are fights... sometimes they can get pretty bad.  
  
I can't stand the sight of blood, and the sight of someone being hurt. It makes me really sick. And when someone gets taken down in a fight, cracks their head open on the floor, right in front of me, (So close I can hear her head crack) and then starts twitching until five minutes later the teacher gets through the crowd and she lifts her head, is in complete shock... and there's a pool of blood spreading down the hallways and dripping out of her hair. I get pretty sick. Very sick. Blood and stuff is right up there with my hatred of spiders and insects. Can't take it.  
  
It's different when you read about it in stories, or see it in movies. I can handle that, but when I see that kind of stuff in real life, I freak out.  
  
Anyways, on a lighter note: I spent the entire weekend at my bestest friend Chris's house and we watched all 26 episodes of cowboy bebop on DVD, with all the extra's and listened to all the music and interviews. Do you know how long that took us!? We started at 3 pm Saturday, after a bit of video games, then watched Cowboy bebop nonstop (Hell we even ordered our pop and pizza from his room) and watched until about 3 am, went to sleep, then I got up at 7:30, he got up at 9:30, and we watched the rest of the episodes and extra's till 2 pm that day.  
  
All and All, we were tired, lazy, and cold (But we had like, 2 blankets each... his windows are really bad and don't block the cold very well) His dog kept coming in and out, and bathroom breaks were inevitable (We paused the DVD's during these of course). So when we finished, we were beat (It's weird, you can get tired out by being lazy like that... but we did stay up fairly late and woke up early too.)  
  
Yet we still had enough energy to be very stupid and AIM every one on our Instant messenger lists, e-mail everyone who knew about our marathon, and say one thing: WE FINALLY FINISHED. Yeah, we act pretty dumb sometimes. Lol. Then allot of the people e-mailed back asking what the hell we meant.  
  
OK, enough blabbing on and on... here's what you've all been waiting for: (bum bum bum)  
  
CHAPTER 18  
  
Jessie slowly walked up to Nadia, and she watched him, her pale skin, silver hair and eyes seemed to glow every time a streak of lightning graced the black sky with it's presence. She turned away once again to look off into the darkness and spoke, just as Jessie reached the rock, "Why?"  
  
He stopped short and continued to look up at her. Unable to answer her question.  
  
She lowered her gaze to the ground, the wind still continued to whip her hair out behind her, "Why us.. Why now...?"  
  
Jessie sighed, "I don't know. Hell, I still have no clue what it is that is going on exactly."  
  
"..." She continued to look down, just as another blast of thunder roared through the air. Jessie jumped onto the rock and put a steady hand on her shoulder.  
  
He was surprised to find her trembling.  
  
"Jessie... my mom... and my uncle..." Nadia sobbed.  
  
"It will be all right. My dad and the others are going to help your mom and them. I know it. Not to mention us."  
  
She looked up at him, her expression blank. She was crying and her bangs were wrapped around her thin face.  
  
"You and me... and Ayane, and Rion." Jessie continued, a small smile crept to his face.  
  
Nadia was silent for a while, and she avoided his gaze. She was still trembling slightly and her skin was cold. The rain had her drenched from head to toe, and she kept wringing her fingers uncontrollably.  
  
"Are you listening to me Nadi...?" Jessie paused, pleased with the new name he had come up with. She seemed to noticed as she shifted her shoulders. He tilted her head up to face him, "You and me. We'll go save them... We'll help your mom, and your uncle. We'll help my dad and the others. And We'll have help from all of them. We've got Ayane and Rion to watch our sorry ass's too! And we'll watch theirs!"  
  
That comment had managed to make her shuffle and chuckle a little. She nodded slightly, as the rain continued to beat down on the two. A sudden gust of wind began to pick up, and she began to shiver even more noticeably.  
  
"Come on, lets get you out of the cold." Jessie said warmly, his hand still on her trembling shoulder. A flash of lightning followed by a loud roar of thunder filled the air.  
  
Nadia wrapped her arms around Jessie's shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze, completely to his surprise. She stayed that way for a few seconds, "Thanks Jess."  
  
"Jess?" Jessie asked, a slight bit of amusement in his voice.  
  
"If your going to call me Nadi, im going to call you Jess." Nadia answered, her face buried into his shoulder.  
  
"Fair enough." Jessie hugged the young pilot back, wrapping his strong arms around her gently.  
  
"You, and me, and Ayane and Rion." Nadia whispered.  
  
************************************  
  
"What's your plan?" Hiro asked Cloud.  
  
Cloud sighed, and the others all turned their gaze's to him. He closed his silver eyes and plopped down onto a free spot on one of the couches, "Ryuji?" He asked after a while, looking up at man sitting across from him.  
  
Ryuji nodded and looked at Cloud, "Yeah?" He asked.  
  
"Stealth." Cloud said, "What do you got?"  
  
Ryuji was a bit confused at first, but caught on after a few seconds, "Oh! Two stealth shields, that's it. Stealth options and things like that are hard to get hold of."  
  
"Rei?" Cloud asked, turning his gaze to Rei.  
  
"One. And it's attached to the Cloud Runner." Rei answered, "I had another one a while back, but I traded it. Sorry."  
  
Cloud nodded, "So that means we can have a total of 3 zoids with stealth capabilities." Cloud said after a while, "One has to be Rei's zoid." He paused, "How long will it take to get the two from your place Ryuji?"  
  
"Not long. At top speed I bet Jemie or Tyra could be back within 2 hours or so..."  
  
"Even in the storm?" Cloud inquired.  
  
"Damn. I forgot about that... 3 hours then..." Ryuji answered quietly.  
  
"Ok." Cloud became quiet again and continued to think. After a while, and much quietness between the group, he finaly spoke, "We can attach one of the shields to Tyra's zoid, and to Goji's. That way we'd have both speed and strength, and the Cloud Runner is a mix of both so..."  
  
The group continued to stare at him, until finaly Tyra spoke up, "So...?"  
  
"The "stealth" zoids can hide out while I go to meet Sin. The others can be in the hover cargo, and I'll take my blade ligar. LightStrike can fuse with the core..." Cloud explained, "So that if Sin pulls anything... you guy's got my back." He smiled slightly, but it was a weary smile, "And if worse comes to worse, and something goes wrong... you guy's can... well... finish me off or whatever."  
  
"What!?" Bit jumped up, "That's all you got!?"  
  
"What do you suppose we do!?" Cloud snapped, "I have no other ideas, now if you guy's could come up with something better, I'd be happy to hear it."  
  
"Cloud!" Tyra almost pleaded, "You don't really..."  
  
Hiro sighed and stood, "He's right. Think about it, we have no other choice here. I hate it just as much as any of you, and I know that I for one would prefer we do something other than that... but..." He paused, then turned to his older brother-in-law "There is one thing though, that I can't do Cloud. I would never be able to... if you.." He paused, "I don't know if I'd be able to finish you off... if Sin does get hold of you and turns you into a demi-human."  
  
Chris just continued to listen, still barely understanding anything that was going on. He Turned his gaze back to the two present kids, 'Ayane and ...Rion was it?' he thought... 'if this plan of their parents fails...'  
  
Just then, two soaking wet kids entered the room. They were shivering quite noticeably. The groups gaze shifted to them.  
  
Hiro sighed and Zack said, "I'll go get some blankets, sit down you two."  
  
The two nodded and sat next to Ayane and Rion, still shaking. It was Cloud that noticed the two of them had hid their hands in their pockets. He stood up slowly, walked over to Nadia and grabbed her wrist. Lifting her hand up he noticed that her hand was cut up and bruised, and was bleeding... but he could also tell that it looked worse than it actually was. He looked at her face and took note that she had been crying, which was to be expected.  
  
Hiro noticed her hands as well and sighed, just as Cloud pulled her up and led her down to the infirmary. He motioned for Jessie to follow him, and was a bit surprised to see Ayane and Rion get up as well, but didn't mind. Hiro led them down the hall and into the infirmary doors, where Cloud was shuffling through a cabinet for some bandages and other first aid items.  
  
Nadia and Jessie both sat on separate stools and Ayane and Rion went to sit on the only clear bed left.  
  
Cloud came back from the cabinet and picked up Nadia's wrist, beginning rub some messy, stinging liquid onto the cuts. After a while he spoke, "You climbed the cliffs didn't you?"  
  
Nadia nodded and he sighed, "You know that's really dangerous. Not to mention in this kind of weather. I know your mom and dad let you when it's clear out... but you could have really hurt yourself."  
  
"Im sorry uncle Cloud... and dad, I was just..." Nadia began, turning to look at the floor.  
  
"Worried." Izumi's voice drifted over to them, and they turned to look at her, she smiled and sat up in her bed, wincing a bit.  
  
"Yeah." Nadia answered, still looking down to the floor, "Im sorry." Her father walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Don't be." Cloud said quietly, "It'll be ok. We've come up with a plan to save your mom and brother, and the others, and I promise to keep you safe as well. And..." He paused, as a small smile crept slowly to his face.  
  
Nadia looked up at him and he finished his sentence, "Your mother and me... we used to climb up there when we were younger... and when we were worried or upset about something... so im not angry with you, and I don't think your dad is either."  
  
Hiro shook his head, "No."  
  
"Why would you be... she's just worried 'bout her mom that's all, and you of course Cloud." Leon's voice was heard, and they took note that he had finally woken up.  
  
"Glad to have ya back," Cloud said, as he continued to wrap the bandages around Nadia's hands.  
  
"Actually..." Brad's voice was next, "We're all back..."  
  
"We've just been listening to your nice conversation." Lavender added, and Leena could be heard chuckling slightly.  
  
"That's a relief... Hiro said, as Rion jumped off the bed and dashed quickly over to his mother. He hugged her gently and kissed her cheek, a smile plastered on his face, "Me and dad were scared..." He said.  
  
"It'll take allot more than that to get rid of me kid." Leena said as she slowly lifted her hands up to give her son a gentle hug.  
  
After Cloud had managed to bandage both the teenagers hands he led them back to the main room, where Zack was waiting with the blankets. They bundled up and sat on the couch, while Ryuji, Goji, Hiro, Rei, Doc and Chris helped move the now conscious injured adults to the room, carefully leading them down the halls and clearing the couches for them.  
  
Cloud explained his plan, and left out none of the details. Jemie chose to go and get the stealth shields from Ryuji's, and was back within 3 hours, just as he had predicted. They prepared themselves, all agreeing that the injured would stay at the base and rest.  
  
Chris objected when Doc suggested that he and the children stay as well.  
  
"No." Chris stated, "It is my duty as the ZBC commander to aid all of Zi and it's people, and keep them safe. I am willing to risk my life for that. Zeke as well. And as for the kids... I think they have their own minds made." He turned his gaze to them, and Nadia nodded, and stood, the blankets still draped about her shoulders.  
  
"We're going to." Nadia commented.  
  
Jessie nodded and stood as well, "We're not going to just sit here... we want to help, and we will."  
  
Ayane and Rion agreed, "If they're going to fight, so are we."  
  
Cloud nodded, as the smallest grin guided his lips, "I understand... but it's up to your father Nadia."  
  
Nadia turned to her father with pleading eyes.  
  
And after a while, he finally nodded in agreement.  
  
******************************  
  
'Oh shit.' Shiro thought. The demi-human eyed the group fiercely, her cold, olive green eyes showing complete and utter hatred towards them.  
  
"What the hell do you think your doing." Gabrielle asked, her voice ringing with venom.  
  
It was Kristen that spoke. Her voice was both brave, and scared at the same time, "Sin ordered us to take them and separate them from the other two. We're to take them to a secure room on the second level."  
  
"What!?" Gabrielle shrieked, she seemed angered, "Sin promised that brat would be the only one who would be pampered."  
  
Shiro and the others wondered what she had meant by that, and listened intently.  
  
"He did not say why..." Will added, "He just gave us our orders."  
  
Gabrielle continued to stare angrily at them. She reached up and put one of her clawed hands up to Hikari's face and dug the nail into her cheek slightly, drawing only a bit of blood, "Your lucky Sin won't let me kill you..." She whispered threateningly.  
  
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Will protested as Hikari winced. The demon laughed.  
  
"Shut the hell up." Gabrielle hissed, and Shiro jerked his head angrily at her. She laughed at him as well, "Well, well, your a feisty one aren't you. Do you know what we're going to do with you kid?"  
  
Shiro just continued to stare daggers at her, "Well, we're going to offer you as a trade to get hold of my dear nephew, Cloud. You know, he's a demi- human just like me... The Ryuu."  
  
Shiro cursed... and Gabrielle Grinned deviously, "Then, when Cloud shows up to save you, he's going to take him and I'll be free to kill you all!"  
  
She laughed again and Shiro finally got fed up. He spit at her angrily.  
  
"How dare you!" She reached her claws back and slashed forward, swiping fiercely at the unprepared teenager. He cursed and reached his shackled hands up to cover his face, feeling warm, crimson red blood seep out of the freshly made gashes down his face.  
  
"Sin ordered you not to touch them!" Kristen yelled hotly, and Hikari jumped to Shiro's kneeling side, just like both Will and Kristen wanted to, but couldn't due to the fact that they had to keep their act up.  
  
She turned to face the two "guards, "Now get the hell out of my way."  
  
Will and Kristen both winced, but it was unnoticed under their disguises. The demon walked past them, her eyes still piercing as daggers.  
  
"We have to hurry." Shiro said after a while, making sure no one else was in hearing range. He was still on his knees, and he had his face buried in his hands. Blood had begun to seep through his fingers.  
  
"Shiro!" Kristen jumped to his side and pulled his hands away, trying to get a good look at his face, he pulled away at first, but both Hikari and Will had knelt to his side, and he turned to face them.  
  
"Oh Shiro..." Kristen almost choked. He had five, long, deep gashes down his face from his forehead to his lips, and blood as seeping down them.  
  
"Im ok." Shiro said , "We have to hurry, lets go..." He stood up and Hikari took off her jacket and pushed it up against his cuts. He winced painfully but accepted it, and wiped his face.  
  
They walked down the hall and finally found the elevator. They got in, and Shiro sat in the corner, while Will checked out the control panel.  
  
"It says we're on the 1st level." Will said, "You want me to take us to level 2?"  
  
"Yeah." Shiro said... "We're gonna find Koh first. Sorry Will, I know you wanna find your mom..."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Will said, though hesitantly, "My mom is strong enough to take care of herself,"  
  
"Are you ok Shiro!?" Hikari asked, as Shiro buried his face in the jacket again.  
  
"Im fine." He answered, just as the elevator started to move. Within about a minute it had reached the second level, and the door opened, and the four teenagers continued to explore.  
  
****************************  
  
"Welcome... both of you." Sin said, as the two women, Ori and Naomi, were forced into his private chambers. Four guards held onto them, one on each arm, and they had shackles on their wrists.  
  
"Im sure you already know who I am..." He continued, the shadows hiding everything but his soft outline, "It's a pleasure to meet both of you."  
  
"What are you going to do with us?!" Naomi demanded.  
  
"Im going to use you to get the Ryuu." Sin answered, as he slid a chesspeice across the board on his desk.  
  
"Why do you want Rain and Cloud so much!?" Orihime inquired quietly.  
  
"Oh, I don't want Rain anymore... I already have her... You see, I need all three demi-humans."  
  
"What...!?" Naomi cursed... she didn't know he had gotten hold of Rain.  
  
"Oh, and I have already started the process of reverting Rain into the Tenshi." Sin added.  
  
"You evil basterd!" Naomi yelled, "What the hell do you have against us!? Why are you doing this!?"  
  
Sin stood up suddenly from his chair, and there was a slight hint of venom in his voice, "Evil!? How dare you. You have no idea what evil is.... you... Im..." he stopped and calmed himself, "Your going to watch. And when the time comes, you will see what evil really is."  
  
"What?!" Ori and Naomi asked at the same time, confused.  
  
"Because I have most of the original sync experiment data, and all of what Luke used before, it takes me very little time to create a demi-human. Not that I want to. I just want the three original ones. And it takes even less time to turn them back to what they truly are." Sin said, his voice was a bit angry, "You will see. I'll show you." He began to walk towards them and pulled his cloak over his face, hiding it. He motioned towards the guards to lead the two struggling women down the halls after him.  
  
He led them strait into the core room, and down a flight of hidden stairs. What they saw shocked them....  
  
~~~~~~End of chapter 18~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hope you like it. im stuck baby-sitting Gabrielle and two of her friends right now... and im not getting paid. (Damn it!)  
  
Deathzealot: Lain is really good. Confusing as hell, but good.  
  
Cloud Light-Feather: Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot to me!  
  
Oh, has any one else been totally absorbed by .Hack//sign? I love that anime... So cool, wish that could happen to me (Get stuck in a game... not all that other bad crap that happens to poor Sukasa [is that how you spell it @_@].) I absolutely love the music in that show, especially "the world" and "Key of the twilight."  
  
I told my sis what's going to happen in the end of this story, and she said that both those songs (After listening to them) somehow reminded her of the ending (I told here what was going to happen a long time ago, and she just heard the songs 2 days ago, and she was like "Those remind me of the end of your zoids story!".) I don't see how... because... never mind, im not going to spoil anything.  
  
Guess what everyone! Today was a half day... and I have a four day weekend. So I don't have to put up with the freakin stupid people at my school!  
  
I typed the first authors note 2 days ago, and since then, we've had 3 school fights... why don't people ever learn? Two people have already gotten seriously hurt at my school because of school fights, a third now has scars on his face from two girls trying to scratch his eyes out. It's terrible.  
  
Not to mention we were on lockdown two weeks ago because an all out brawl almost started in the cafeteria. We had 3 cops in there, all the lunch aids, and we had to keep in our seats. We couldn't even stand. Then, all day we had 3 dogs patrolling the halls with the cops.  
  
The brawl was going to be "preps" vs. "Thugs" And things are starting to get heated up between the two groups once again because of all the fights lately. The preps heavily outnumber the thugs... but the thugs are tougher. It'll be a nasty brawl if it ever happens and doesn't get interrupted by the cops again. Im definitely staying out of it, but if I had to take sides, it would be with the thugs. Believe it or not, they're nicer than half the preps.  
  
Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review. 


	19. Angel once more

Authors note: Really sorry for the delay in chapters, i've been busy. Im having some Japanese people stay at my house again this year in April, and I just finished filling out paper work and stuff for that. For the past few days we've been filling out our schedule preferences for next year. Im trying to get into Art and creative writing... should be interesting, and they only offer that class every other year now. Im taking biology and Geometry next year too. (OH BOY! HARDER MATH! I hate math.) I want to be able to take Physics in 12th grade, and to do that you have to take certain Science classes.  
CHAPTER 19  
  
What appeared to be a lone zoid ran along the desert sands through an immense storm, a silver blade Ligar that was traveling as fast as the weather would permit. Whenever Lightning graced the sky, it's armor would reflect the light in a bright flash, making the zoid seem to glow in the darkness.  
  
But secretly, it was not alone. A highly modified, stealth shielded Storm Sworder flew above it, and off to his left was another stealth shielded zoid known as the Temjin X, a humanoid zoid that wielded a powerful sword gun, and to his right ran yet another shielded zoid, Cloud runner, a winged Lightning Siax with an average between speed and strength.  
  
But to the naked eye this Silver bladed Ligar was all alone in the desert storm... save for the lone hover cargo following at the short distance, not to far and not to close. The hover cargo that belonged to the blitz team, and sheltered 8 zoids within it.  
  
The Bahamut 0, a large, dragon that had a large vary of firepower and speed. It's pilot sat in the cockpit making checks on the zoid, making sure everything was working as good as possible. His thoughts were focused on the battle ahead, and how he wished everything would just end. He had made some mistakes in the past, he admitted, the moment he took on the name Zero. But now he was help end it all, and stop Sin and Gabrielle, no matter what.  
  
Next to the dragon was Jemie's Raynos, a zoid used mainly for it's high speeds, able to easily break the sound barrier and create sonic booms. Jemie was looking up on it, with a few thoughts on his mind... mainly about his alter ego, the Wild Eagle, and his wife, Orihime. If only he had been there to protect her....  
  
Bit's Ligar 0 was next, and Bit was sitting next to his old friends "paw" talking about all their adventures and how they had defeated the backdraft so long ago. The white Ligar talked back, replying in growls and roars that only Bit himself could understand. That had been determined long ago... Bit could actually understand and talk to the Ligar.  
  
The Konig wolf that was piloted by Nadia was directly across from Zacks Bahamut 0. It's teal and blue stripes complimented deeply with the black of it's main armor. It's customized EC cannon was one of it's best weapons... able to stop any foe if used right. If it wasn't for it's very low accuracy and difficulty to use, it would be the perfect weapon. Nadia sat on top of the small wolfs head, her zoid seeming to perfectly fit her and her personality. She was sitting with her arm wrapped around her knees and her head resting on them, thinking about how her life had suddenly become a hell on Zi. Her long silver hair flowed out behind her and spread in perfect contrast to the zoids black armor.  
  
Next to her was Jessie's Lightning Siax. Another zoid capable of amazing speed. Though it was possibly the least customized zoid in the hanger, it was still quite powerful. It did have two custom set smoke discharges that could come quite in handy, and an unbelievable radar. Jessie was inside the cockpit, much like his father, checking to make sure everything was in working order. He had taken his gloves off and set them on the control panel, and his swift thoughts kept coming to his mother, and how much he missed her. She must have been worried sitting at home wondering what had happened.  
  
But then again, he had a feeling she knew.  
  
Rion's White blade ligar was standing next, its black blades still tucked close to it's sides. 'All too soon' Rion thought, as he too rested on top of his zoid. He was sitting on it's back, and his back was to it's neck. 'They'll be extended to fight.' He sighed and ran a hand through his golden blond hair, "All to soon." He said so only he could hear.  
  
The zoid that was next was Ayanes GunGyarados. At one time this was possibly the groups greatest foe... back when her father... no Copper, had piloted it and pitted it against the others. It's charged particle canon had strength on par to no normal zoid, and Ayanes skills as a pilot were great. She was sitting in the cockpit, like some of the others, but instead of checking the maintenance, she was thinking about how the zoid she piloted had been used in the past.  
  
Last in line was the newest member of the group. Chris and his blue and white Blade Ligar. The same Blade Ligar that his ancestor had used about 4000 years before. He even had the same old organoid partner, Zeke, who was sitting on the Ligars back with Chris Lying against him, thinking silently to himself about what would have to happen if this plan should fail. He looked over at the kids, and thought, 'If it happens... they'll be the ones that'll have to rise and save us all.'  
  
Each of these pilots were waiting. Waiting for the battle that was going to no doubtfully ensue very very soon.  
  
***********************************  
  
"Rain!" Naomi cursed and looked up in the container that held her long time friend and comrade. Rain was suspended in a bluish liquid, hundreds of tiny wires and tubes surrounding her. Her long silver hair was floating very subtly around her, and she looked like she was asleep... Her pale skin was covered by a mid-length, flowing snow white dress, seeming to be made of silk... and armor. Black and silverish blue armor which grew into her skin... that was just about perfectly identical to her old armor... Her wings were still there, and were still the same energy generating wings that had graced the Tenshi's back 20 years ago.  
  
Orihime gasped out loud and looked away, tears stinging her eyes slightly. She now knew how Rain must have felt when she first looked up upon Gabrielle in one of these containers... then again at Cloud! She looked up once again at her friend, tears still in her eyes. It wasn't any different now... Rain was now what... 35? Yet she looked almost exactly how she had then...back when she was 15. The same face, hair, and personality. The same armor...  
  
Sin suddenly walked up to the control panel that was off to the side, and observed the screen thoughtfully, his face still hidden behind his black cloak. He stared for a few seconds more, and said, "Everything appears to be working normally. She's ready to be awakened." He paused and turned to the two women who were staring daggers at him. He sighed, almost seemingly regrettably... and shook his head, "Do you want to speak with her?"  
  
He saw the odd looks that he was receiving and smiled secretly to himself, "What. You don't want me to wake her up so you can talk to her then?" He thought about it and said, "Oh right... The whole control thing... No, she will be under her own control... for now. I won't need to force her to do anything until after I have the Ryuu." He paused almost dramatically, "But of course... she won't have any of her strength."  
  
Ori and Naomi continued to stare at him as he turned back to the control panel, and began to type away at the keyboard. The screen flipped blank and the blue liquid inside the container began to lighten and almost seemed to glow. Steam began to rise from the cords and wires around the container, and the air around the two women seemed to shift uneasily when Rain's eyes slowly fluttered open.  
  
The same silver and hazel eyes.  
  
*************************************  
  
"Damn wench." Shiro spat has he continued to press the jacket up against her bleeding face. He had begun to feel the slight toll of both a strong headache, and the loss of blood, "Damn why won't it stop bleeding..." It must have been about a half hour ago that she clawed him... And it hadn't stopped bleeding since. Yes it had lessened, but hadn't stopped yet.  
  
Kristen glanced worriedly up at him and noticed the other two do the same she glanced back and forth through the hall to make sure no one was in ear shot, "Shiro?"  
  
"Yeah?" He sighed.  
  
"Are you sure your ok...?" She sounded very worried and Shiro was shocked at how much so.  
  
"My head just hurts really bad that's all... I'll live. Just ignore my complaining. It just hurts..." He sighed, then chuckled slightly "Im glad she didn't hit my eyes."  
  
"Your really lucky she didn't." Will added.  
  
"I know."  
  
They turned a corner and put their act back up when two guards began to walk down the hallway, one coming from a room down and to their left. They walked right pass with nothing but a glance at the four teenagers, two of which were still in disguise of course, and had continued their conversation. It was a conversation worth eavesdropping in.  
  
"I just came from his room." The first guard said, "I was ordered to take him his food."  
  
"And....?"  
  
"He looked awful, he was all pale and stuff. Looked sick. Said something about a headache, then told me to go away."  
  
"That kid... he scares me he really does. He's..." The conversation was lost, as the two guards had gotten to far down the hall to be heard.  
  
Once they were sure the coast was clear, Shiro nodded to them, "Did you guy's see which room that one came out of?"  
  
"Yeah." Will nodded along with Hikari and Kristen.  
  
"Then lest go take a looksy. Something tells me..." Shiro said, but was cut off by Kristen.  
  
"That Koh's in there?"  
  
"Yeah, Exactly." Shiro smiled slightly but winced as he brought the jacket off his cuts.  
~~~~~~end of chapter 18~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Really sorry for the shortness of the chapter. It's late and im tired, plus I have school tomorrow (Unless we have a snow day... which is a possibility according to the news *crosses fingers* Come on good, old, unpredictable Michigan weather! Come On!")  
  
I decided to leave it here because even though it made the chapter short, it was both a good place to leave off at, and I didn't want to leave you waiting any longer for another chapter.  
  
Man, last weekend sucked. Me, and two of my friends: Kyle and Ryan had to lock ourselves up in my room practically all weekend because my sister had her overnight/day weekend birthday party! Oh boy! She had like, 15 annoying little snot nosed Six graders there! And They stayed up till 4:30- 5 in the morning ALL OFF THEM! So of course, we had to stock up on food, drink (We stole 2 two liters of Mountain Dew from the party @_@) and plenty of candy and then we never came down. (Cept for once when we decided to walk across the street to the store, and we witnessed one of my sisters friends dancing around the living room like Brittany spears ( THE HORROR !) @_@/  
  
Anyways, how was everyone else's weekends and such?  
  
Thanks again for the reviews! 


	20. PROJECT PHOENIX COMPLETE

Authors note: I know, I know... it's been a while. And this time, I don't have a great excuse so I'll just tell you this: Im Lazy. There. It wont happen again.  
  
Anyways, My friend Jeremy already gave me my birthday present... strange thing is my birthday isn't until April 13th. Oh well, I still love it and my other friends are going to have a very hard time trying to beat him to who can give me the best present (They do this every year. All of them try to one up each other. lol.) HE GOT ME THE JAPANESE KINGDOM HEARTS SOUNDTRACK! I love it sooooo much. (I like the Japanese vocals better then the English.) Two disks and 76 songs of utter greatness. I thank him every time I see him now!  
  
Oh and Rorouni Kenshin and Yu Yu Hakusho are on Toonami now... Yay!  
  
but .hack//sign is gone. (Cries.)  
  
I just ate a bowl of ice-cream and Im freezing... hard to type when your cold...  
  
Anyways, here's the next chapter!  
  
CHAPTER 20  
  
"Goji?" Tyra's voice was heard on the Temjin X's com-link. Her face appeared shortly after on a small screen.  
  
"Yeah?" Goji replied, looking up at the screen.  
  
"Do you think this plan of Cloud's will work?" Her voice was quiet and almost uncertain, "I mean... It's not really that much of a plan. And it pretty much just... well,"  
  
"Seems to hand him over?" He finished for her, knowing exactly what she meant.  
  
She nodded and quietly answered. "Yeah."  
  
Goji was silent for a few moments, crossing his arms in front of him. He sighed and shook his head, "Tyra, let me tell you what I think. I think he knows that this plan pretty much dooms him. But I also think he cares much more about the kids, Ori and Naomi." He paused, and sighed once again, "And... We all know that Rain's stuck. It's just gut instinct for all of us, ya know..."  
  
Tyra looked down, and nodded, "But..."  
  
"He knows Sin will probably get ahold of him. He knows Sin has already got and will use Rain. He knows he's giving himself up, But..."  
  
Tyra looked up and Goji nodded, "But he's willing to do that to save the kids. You know the way he is, always caring for others more than himself. He's willing to become a demi-human again for them. It's probably tearing him up inside right now, knowing there's no way to save Rain, or himself. He probably also feels really guilty."  
  
"But, Sin is going to use him to kill other people, he's going to use him against us if he gets ahold of him." Tyra said quietly.  
  
"That's where he's counting on us." Goji replied, "He's counting on us to save him."  
  
Tyra looked confused, and stared into Goji's emotionless face, trying to find out what he meant.  
  
"He's counting on us to save him, by destroying him." Rei's voice called, just as his face appeared on the com-link, "Don't worry, I made sure he wasn't listening in."  
  
Goji nodded, "Yeah."  
  
Tyra sighed and shook her head, closing the com-link. Pulling her zoid lower to avoid the harsh winds of the storm she whispered, "I don't know if I'd be able to do that."  
  
********************************  
  
"O... Orihime?" Rain murmured. She found herself lying on the floor, and Ori and Naomi were on both sides of her. Ori was supporting her head and Naomi looked worried. It didn't take long for her to figure out why. She was a demi-human. But something was different... she didn't have all of her strength, most of the power she remembered feeling before was absent... not all of it, there was still some left, but enough to make her feel a bit weak and tired.  
  
"Rain are you ok?" Naomi asked, her eyes almost to the brink of tears.  
  
Rain Sighed heavily, "Sin... he did this... didn't he?"  
  
"Yeah. He got ahold of me and Naomi too... I don't know about the others." Orihime answered.  
  
Rain pushed herself slowly up, feeling much heavier than normal due to her armor, looking around she asked, "Where..?"  
  
"Sin had us taken to a room somewhere on the second level right after he freed you from the container thing." Naomi explained.  
  
"How long ago was it that Sin got us?" Rain asked.  
  
"Not to long." Ori answered, "Not even a day."  
  
"Then... how...?" Rain lifted a hand in front of her face, and flexed her fingers, observing the armor that graced her skin.  
  
Naomi knew what she meant and shook her head, "Im not sure. He said something about having all of Lukes data, and how it was easier to create a demi-human now than before...." She paused, "and how it only took a bit of time to turn them back."  
  
Rain stumbled a bit as she slowly pulled herself over to the bed that was located in the corner of the room, and sat down. She ran her armored/gloved hand through her long silver hair, and fluttered her thin wings a bit. She looked up sharply, a sudden thought coming to her mind, "Have... have you heard anything about Koh?"  
  
Ori and Naomi walked over and sat next to her, and Orihime sighed, shaking her head, "Not a thing Rain... im sorry...."  
  
Rain was silent for a bit, her gaze had shifted back to her hand. She flexed her fingers again and closed her eyes, "Did Cloud ever come back to the base?"  
  
"If he did it wasn't until we were gone." Ori answered.  
  
"So that means he doesn't have the Ryuu yet." Rain almost smiled, but it wasn't a warm or happy smile. It was filled with weariness,"Cloud'll come... He'll save us."  
  
"And what if Sin gets ahold of him?" Naomi asked solemnly.  
  
Rain shook her head, "Then I pray that someone or something will find a way to save us all."  
  
*******************************  
  
"Are you sure this is the room he came out of?" Shiro asked, looking at the door. It was unlocked.  
  
"Yeah, im positive." Will answered, "do you think Koh's in there?"  
  
"It's possible. I say we check it out." Kristen said.  
  
Shiro wiped his face again and nodded, pushing a small button over on the control panel to the door. It shifted open to reveal a dark room. Against one wall was a bed with a figure lying in it, curled beneath the covers.  
  
"Koh?" Hikari asked as they slowly approached the figure. He shifted slightly revealing a head of long silver hair.  
  
"Koh!" Kristen cried, waking and startling the figure.  
  
He sat up suddenly and flung the covers off of him, turning to face the four, he stared at them or a while, until he asked, "Who the hell are you!?"  
  
"Koh... it's us!" Will said, taking a few steps forward but stopping as Koh shifted his gaze onto him. He was different. His brilliant blue eyes were cold and emotionless, almost evil. And his voice seemed to be filled with anger and hatred.  
  
"I have no clue who you are, but I want to know why the hell you brought two of the prisoners that I captured here!" Koh yelled.  
  
"What!?" The four teenagers found themselves short of breath.  
  
"What are you talking about Koh!?" Kristen demanded, she was about to walk up and grab him, but Shiro took hold of her shoulder and shook his head.  
  
"Sin's gotten ahold of him." Will whispered after a few seconds, making everyone realize the obvious.  
  
"Answer my question!" Koh demanded, pushing himself off of the bed and pulling himself to his full height, "I want to know why the two prisoners that I captured are here! I didn't go through all the trouble of attacking that damned base and capturing them for Sin just to have them suddenly be brought up to my room without explanation. I have a migraine and I want them gone so I can rest!"  
  
"It was you!?" Kristen almost screamed, "YOU attacked the waterfall base!?" She pulled herself away from Shiro and leapt at Koh, tackling him to the ground, "You son of a..." She pulled her helmet off as Koh removed from the shock of suddenly being attacked.  
  
"Kristen!" Shiro threw down Hikari's jacket and rushed over to the enraged Kristen.  
  
"You bastered. You damn traitor!" Kristen swung a hard punch at Koh's jaw, finding her mark perfectly. He cursed and tried to shove her her off, but to no avail, he was pinned up against the bed and a small nightstand, "You betrayed your own friends and family you ass!" She dug her fingers into his arms and he let out a small gasp as he continued to try and push the furious teenager off of him. But she wouldn't give in, "You gave your own mother to Sin!"  
  
"Kristen!" Shiro grabbed her arm tightly and she cried out slightly as he pretty much threw her off of Koh. She fell to the ground, her eyes blazing and filled with tears.  
  
Koh stood up shakily and rubbed the blood off of his lip and chin using his hand, his eyes now also filled with even more hatred. Shiro grabbed him by the neck of his clothes and shoved him onto the bed. Will ran over to his side just as Hikari ran to keep Kristen calm.  
  
"I'll kill you all." Koh cursed, standing only to be forced back down by Shiro, who then took the time to backhand him in the side of his head, sending him into unconsciousness.  
  
"Shiro, look for some kind of choker or something that could be controlling him." Will said, "I think Nadia's uncle said something about that."  
  
Shiro nodded and looked, finding exactly that. A black choker hidden underneath the turtle neck that Koh was wearing. He grabbed ahold and tore it off, relieved to see Koh seemed to shift suddenly as he did it, his entire body seeming to relax.  
  
********************************  
  
"Jessie?" Nadia's voice came into the cockpit, and he looked up to find her standing above him and looking in.  
  
"Yeah Nadi?" Jessie asked, standing and pulling himself onto his zoids head.  
  
"I just wanted to come talk." Nadia answered, letting her feet hang down into the cockpit.  
  
Jessie nodded and sat next to her, "What about?"  
  
"I was thinking, and you know what...?" Nadia looked up and around the room.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're like pawns." Nadia replied, as she turned to face him.  
  
"Hmmm?" Jessie was a bit confused.  
  
"I mean like in chess. We all just Sins pawns in a game he's sure he can win."  
  
Jessie thought about it for a second, and nodded, "I guess I see what you mean. But... this isn't a game. This is real. And even if we are just his pawns..." He paused and grinned, "We're some pretty strong, kick-ass pawns."  
  
Nadia almost seemed to smile, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."  
  
*************************************  
  
Sin looked down at the chess board and sighed, the game was almost complete, but there were still so many ways both sides could win.  
  
*************************************  
  
Chris looked over to the two that were talking and then looked back over at Zeke, nodding, "I know they can do it Zeke.... these kids will be the ones to save us all... I know it."  
  
Zeke roared in agreement and nudged his current master lovingly.  
  
Chris looked down at a message flashing on his screen and sighed, "And finaly it's ready. Just in case this plan doesn't work..." The screen's letters were light blue and read: PROJECT PHOENIX COMPLETE.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of chapter 20~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sorry for the delay, like I said above, I am quite lazy, but something did actually come up this weekend that prevented me from updating... my dads 43 birthday, everyone wish him happy B-day!.  
  
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't forget to review!  
  
I was looking at some stuff, and some people said that their summer vacation starts soon... THATS NOT FAIR! mine doesn't start till late June I think... (Maybe July?)  
  
I have just been informed that... the Japanese exchange people will not be coming due to the war. This is very upsetting to me because this year was the 20 year anniversary of the sister city program between Wyandotte MI, and Komaki Japan. They were going to send 18 students and 4 adults. But this also means that I probably won't be able to go to japan again any time soon.... 


	21. Capture and Escape

Authors note: Thanks yet again for all the great reviews! Not much to say really, im glad you liked the last chapter. I was really worried about that one because it was a hard one to write for some reason.  
  
Himeko: It's not just you, I've noticed the decline in reviews as well. With my last story I reached over 100 reviews by the end, and it only had 17 chapters. This one has 21 now and it is just now reaching 100. Many of the reviewers that were with me in the beginning have stopped reviewing. Dark Salamander (Submitted Zack), and G-Force 1 (Goji) haven't reviewed lately, along with a few others. But that's ok. Maybe they just lost interest in my stories and have found something they like better, or maybe they just don't have the time to review anymore due to having to write their own stories, school, and what-not. They were all great reviewers. And not everyone has stopped reviewing either, I still have all my great reviewers like you! ^_^.  
  
CHAPTER 21  
  
Sin placed his fingers around a small, white marble pawn and pushed if forward once. He nodded to himself slowly, then took his fingers off the chess piece. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, folding his fingers in a deep habit of thought. Just then the door shifted open, startling him out of his concentration.  
  
"Sir." Gabrielle stood in the door way, her arms folded out in front of her, "The scanners indicate that Cloud is on his way, and will be arriving shortly. The Blitz teams hover cargo is following at a distance."  
  
"Good. Now leave. Im trying to concentrate, and I do not need a demon to distract me." Sin ordered, "I will instruct on when the prisoners are to be brought to me, until then, wait in the cockpit. Understand?"  
  
"But sir..." Gabrielle began, about to ask him on why he moved two of the prisoners in the first place.  
  
"Are you disobeying me demi-human?"  
  
"Fine!" The demon spat, turning quickly to leave as the door shifted shut behind her.  
  
Sin looked back down at his chessboard, and frowned. Black and white were at a face off, and once again it appeared that black would win this little game. He looked over it for a bit longer, before moving the white knight to take out the black pawn he had just placed.  
  
**********************************  
  
Cloud shifted nervously as the remains of Lukes old castle came into view. The place that had haunted his sleep and gave him nightmares on more than a few occasions.  
  
The rain and wind had let down a bit, but not much, and the sky was still black with clouds, flashing occasionally with a bright streak of lightning. He looked around for the Chaos-sin, but didn't see anything, which was very nerve racking. It seemed like he was all alone in the desert, stranded in the middle of the storm.  
  
Of course he knew the others were with them, shielded from sight, and that gave him at least a little comfort.  
  
"Cloud Light-Feather." A voice formed on his com-link loudly, and Cloud had a feeling that it was also quite loud outside. The voice belonged to none other than Sin himself, and was actually quite calm, perhaps even inviting. Yet, it still held a coldness behind it that sent chills down the eldest Light-Feathers spine.  
  
"Im here. I want my friends. And I want the kids. Now." Cloud answered, just as the Chaos-sin seemed to appear out of thin air, materializing a distance in front and above him. The massive dragons eyes glowed cruelly among the darkness, and it's loud roar echoed throughout the air.  
  
"All in good time my demi-human friend. I promise they will be set free. But remember, for their freedom, I want a compromise." Sin called back, and the Chaos-sin landed among the ruins of the castle. It's sheer size became very intimidating.  
  
**********************************  
  
Rain sat up like a bolt suddenly when she heard her older brothers voice over the intercom, and Sins cold replies, "Cloud..." She turned to Naomi and Orihime, "I told you he would come." She then stopped suddenly and frowned, looking over at the door, "Someone's here."  
  
Orihime and Naomi looked over at her questioningly, and she pointed quickly to her ears, "Two, maybe three people are behind the door..."  
  
The two human women nodded and Naomi went over to a small stool by the bed and picked it up, quickly dashing over to the side of the door, "Ori, get on that side and when I hit them with the stool, drag the bodies out of the way, ok?"  
  
Orihime nodded, and Rain ducked back far enough to the left side of the door to give Orihime her room, and keep herself hidden.  
  
The door suddenly burst open, which was no surprise, and a man walked through. As soon as he was far enough, Naomi swung the stool that was over her head and brought it crashing down on the mans head. Orihime quickly crouched down around the door and grabbed the second mans feet, knocking him off balance and sending him face first into the floor. The red comet finished the job by bringing what was left of the now broken stool over the second mans head, and sending him to join the first in unconsciousness.  
  
The two women the attempted to drag the men over to the side of the bed, but were having more trouble then expected. The men were heavy, both of them, and were difficult to drag across the carpeted floor.  
  
Orihime pulled hard, and almost fell back when the weight lessened very suddenly. Looking up she saw Rain had grabbed hold of the mans arm, and was helping to drag him quite easily.  
  
Once both men were out of the way, Orihime spoke, "What now?"  
  
"Lets try and find the kids, or something... we can get them out and help Cloud." Naomi answered.  
  
Rain nodded in agreement, "We have to be careful though." She walked over to the two unconscious bodies and crouched next to them, finding two hand guns and a stun rod, "They must have planed to use that against me." She stated, tossing the two guns over to the others, "Lets get going."  
  
The three women ran through the door and down the hall, stopping at the corner. Naomi pressed herself flat against the wall, and peered around the corner. Seeing the coast was clear, she quickly took off running with Rain and Orihime right on her heels. Just as she was about to pass another hallway, someone came quickly around the corner, smacking strait into her...  
  
*****************************  
  
"Hurry up you guy's!" Shiro yelled back to the three teenagers that were now running behind him. He was carrying Koh, who was actually lighter than he had originally expected. His face was still a bit bloody, but there was nothing he could do about it but ignore the splitting headache and occasional dizzy spell.  
  
He paused at a corner, breathing harshly, and peeked around, finding the coast clear. He waited a few more seconds to catch his breath, and took off running. Kristen ran up besides him, "Shiro, if we can get out... then Cloud won't have... to give himself up..."  
  
"I know." Shiro replied sharply, turning the corner. Then, the one thing he had least expected happened.  
  
He hit someone.  
  
"Shit!" He heard the other person yell, as the force of the blow knocked the air out of him. Looking up he saw someone he didn't expect.  
  
"Mom!" Will yelled, running over to Orihime, and throwing his arms around her.  
  
"Will!?" She hugged him back tightly, "I was so worried. We went looking for you after we escaped... How?!" She was interrupted suddenly by a sharp gasp from Rain when the demi-human noticed the person that Shiro had in his arms.  
  
"Oh my God... Koh!?" Rain dashed as quickly as possible, fluttering her thin wings as she knelt at Shiro's side, and began stroking her sons hair.  
  
"Uh... Rain?" Shiro asked uneasily, being shocked to see her as a demi- human. She looked up at him and nodded, her eyes scanning his face.  
  
"What happened?" She asked.  
  
"Gabrielle happened." Kristen answered for him, stepping up to his side.  
  
Hikari nodded and said, "When we escaped, Will and Kristen had on the guards uniforms and helmets. We ran into Gabrielle, and Shiro stood up to her. Then she scratched him and left."  
  
"She thought that me and Kristen were real guards." Will added.  
  
Rain nodded, "I see. What about Koh? Where did you find him?"  
  
"He was in one of the rooms." Shiro answered, he decided it was best not to mention anything besides that... and apparently the others agreed.  
  
The group stayed silent for a few more moments and finally Orihime spoke up, "Now lets get out of here... Cloud needs us."  
  
"Yeah..." Kristen nodded, "And we left Sin a nice little gift in the cells as well."  
  
The adults looked over at her questioningly, and Shiro answered, "Don't ask. Lets just go now." He stood up, still carrying Koh, and the group took off running. The found an elevator and pilled in, Orihime quickly pressed the base level button.  
  
The doors shifted open and the group burst out, taking out the few guards that were around them. They then quickly dashed down another hallway, praying to any God that might exist they were headed the right way...  
  
***********************************  
  
"I want the Ryuu." Sin said, his voice booming over the sound of the raging storm, "When I have him, you have my word that the hostages will be released."  
  
"I want to see them set free first." Cloud replied, the silver blade ligar at his command roaring fiercely. Unknown to Sin, the three stealth zoids had made their way closer to the Chaos-sin. Goji was out in front, his sword ready for attack.  
  
There was a sudden explosion as a small section near the belly of the chaos- sin broke away, and flames emerged, soon followed by 8 small figures in the dark. Sins angry voice could be heard screaming, "What the hell's going on!?"  
  
"Sir! The hostages have escaped!" One of his men was heard over the intercom, "All of them somehow... They managed to break through some of our men and found some explosives."  
  
"Stop them!" Sin yelled, "Deploy the Zebats! I will have the demi- humans... you understand me!?"  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
Clouds screen zoomed in on the figures, and he yelled, "Someone get to them!"  
  
The Chaos-sins mouth screeched open and out flew a large number of pitch black Zebats. They circled the sky once and began opening fire on Clouds Blade Ligar.  
  
*********************************  
  
"Lets go!" Zack yelled, closing the Bahamut's cockpit.  
  
Nadia cursed and dashed over to her Konig wolf, just as Jessie's Lightning Saix had begun to move.  
  
All the zoids in the Blitz teams hover cargo were now coming to life, each pilot eager to go help their friends and families. Ayane and Rion were the first ones out, followed soon by Zack, Jemie and Bit.  
  
Jessie was next, and was followed shortly by Nadia. Chris was the last one to depart, calling Zeke to him. The organoid fused quickly with the blue blade ligars core, and they departed.  
  
They ran quickly through the storm, pushing their zoids as fast as they would go to reach the battle that had just started.  
  
***********************************  
  
Rain stiffened suddenly and yelled, "You guy's run! Goji's nearby I can hear him... he'll help you."  
  
"What?!" Naomi asked as the rest of the group turned to face her.  
  
"Shiro, get Koh away from here now. All of you need to get away!" Rain commanded, just as a dark shadow slammed right into her. The shadow pushed her right up against the wall, and was soon reveled to be none other than the demonic demi-human, Gabrielle.  
  
"Trying to get away are we?" Gabrielle taunted, as she flashed a cruel smile toward her niece.  
  
"Rain!" Orihime yelled, about to dash forward to her friends aid. She was stopped suddenly when the Temjin X removed it's stealth shield, and Goji pushed his hand in her way.  
  
"Leave her... you know you can't do anything to help her against Gabrielle. Now all of you climb on!" He waited for them to climb onto the temjin's arms, and he clasped it's hands around them, once again raising the stealth shield. The Temjin X, and the hostages disappeared without a trace.  
  
Gabrielle backed away from Rain and smiled, just as a streak of lightning struck the horizon. She seemed to pull Rains sword out of thin air, tossing it to the Tenshi, and then removing her own blade, "Common Tenshi... Lets see what you can do."  
  
Rain cursed as she caught the blade. She knew she didn't have much of her strength, and Gabrielle seemed to know this as well.  
  
"What's the matter dear niece?" Gabrielle brought her flame colored sword up, the rain bounded off of it's sharp blade, and the glare from the Lightning that filled the air reflected the bright colors. She spread her red, bladed wings and charged full speed at Rain bringing the sword above her head.  
  
Rain gasped as she pulled her sword up to block the blow, its bone crushing impact causing her arms to suddenly go numb.  
  
Gabrielle laughed as Rain collapsed, "Ah, I see. Lets get you back inside... shall we?" The demon wrapped her arms around Rains neck and slammed the back of her hand against her temple, causing the Tenshi to black out immediately. She then dragged Rain back into the Chaos-sin, and watched the rest of the fight from there....  
  
***************************  
  
"Rain!" Cloud yelled, crying out suddenly as another barrage of missiles hit his zoid, he cursed. Tyra and Rei were trying hard to defend him, but there were just to many Zebats.  
  
"Cloud watch out!" Rei's voice was heard. Cloud gasped suddenly as the Chaos-sin disappeared, then reappeared quickly, bringing it's claws down on top of his blade ligar. Electricity flowed into his zoid, sending him into unconsciousness quickly, and completely freezing his zoids systems.  
  
LightStrike roared out in pain as he became unfused with the core, sprawling onto the desert sands.  
  
Seemingly out of nowhere, large cables and chains emerged from the Chaos- sin, wrapping around the Ligar. Thunder roared in the background, and the rain continued to beat down hard.  
  
"Cloud!" Jemie yelled, being the first to arrive on the battlefield. He shot down a few Zebats that were chasing Tyra, who's' stealth shield had appeared to fail.  
  
"No!" Nadia yelled, dashing as quickly as her Konig wolf could run, "Uncle Cloud!"  
  
The Chaos-sins loud roar was heard, followed by Sins cruel laughter as both the large dragon and the Ligar, disappeared into nothingness...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 21~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Hmmm... I have a history test tomorrow... damn.  
  
So, you like chapter? Go review please!  
  
Aren't you proud of me? I updated quickly!  
  
Oh yeah, next chapter will include more info on the PHOENIX project.... 


	22. Just a little bit Jealous

Authors note: Major delay problems due to a bunch of things. Sorry. One major thing being my birthday, my new PS2 and my scary obsession with the DVD: Spirited Away. Great movie.  
  
Don't worry Himeko, you'll find out about the injuredies soon enough... Along with another old... friend of ours... lol.  
  
CHAPTER 22  
  
"NO!" Nadia yelled, her voice heard over everyone's intercoms. Her Konig wolf suddenly fell victim to a vicious assault by the group of Zebats the Chaos-sin had left behind.  
  
Jessie saw what was happening, and pushed his Lightning Siax forward, taking down one of the enemy zoids, "Nadi, we have to get out of here." His face appeared on her screen," Your dad and Tauros are ordering us back to the hover cargo... Lets go!"  
  
"No!" Nadia sobbed, Not without uncle Cloud and mom." She gasped suddenly as another barrage of missiles jerked her zoid.  
  
Two of the Zebats that were attacking her suddenly fell, and a blue Blade Ligar appeared just as a flash of lighting stuck across the sky.  
  
"There's nothing we can do at the time, to help them." Chris said, his face popping up next to Jessie's, "How do you expect to ever help them by getting killed here?"  
  
"But,"  
  
"Listen," Chris sighed, putting up a block on the com-link so that only Nadia could hear, "Nadia. We still may have a way to save them, and stop Sin all in one shot...." He paused, "But, you have to trust me."  
  
"Nadia! Get back to the hover cargo now!" Hiro's voice rang out, "Please. We weren't expecting Cloud to just disappear like that."  
  
Nadia slammed her fist down on her control panel, and her Konig wolf faltered slightly as she hesitated.  
  
"Please Nadia..." Jessie said, just as a flashed of bright light appeared in the dark storming sky. It came down suddenly, striking the Konig Wolf. Nadia gasped when a familiar roar filled the cockpit.  
  
"LightStrike?!"  
  
Lightstrike roared again and forced the wolf to turn around, even through Nadia's protests. Chris ran out ahead and Jessie followed close behind, the dark sky only seemed to grow darker as night began to approach, the storm still not letting up.  
  
"Nadi...?" Jessie sighed, looking over at her tear filled face.  
  
Nadia didn't answer, and just let LightStrike guide the Konig Wolf over the wet mud that the desert sands had become.  
  
The Lightning Saix and Konig Wolf were the last two zoids to return to the Hover cargo, and once they were safely inside, the large transported opened fire on the remaining Zebats, destroying most of them, the rest fleeing into the darkness.  
  
Nadia jumped out of her cockpit and just stood in the almost abandoned hanger, tears streaming down her face. Jessie slowly walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Come on Nadi," Jessie said, "Lets go meet the others."  
  
"We..." Nadia whispered, "Jess.... We were so close."  
  
Jessie sighed and wrapped his arms around her gently, stroking her long silver hair as she cried into his clothes, "Shhhh..." Jessie tried to calm her down, "Everything will be ok... Please Nadia..."  
  
She continued to cry for a few moments longer, eventually deciding to dry her tears and head on up to the main room. They were surprised to see LightStrike standing next to the door waiting for them... He seemed to be glaring at Jessie. He growled almost threateningly, making Jessie cringe. Even though he was smaller than regular zoids, LightStrike was still kind of big.  
  
"Stop it." Nadia pat the organoids nose gently, "What are you jealous or something?"  
  
Even though Organoids were almost completely unable to show any type of emotion, LightStrike still seemed to look pretty surprised as he turned his head to face a different direction.  
  
Nadia started to giggle, "Ah, don't worry LightStrike."  
  
The organoid growled warmly and nudged her arm gently, grabbing the sleeve of her shirt and dragging her down the hall and to the infirmary. Jessie followed closely behind at first, until LightStrike swung his tail and tried to hit him. He jumped back to dodge it and fell on his butt, deciding it would be safer to travel further behind.  
  
The organoid pushed her into the room and nodded at a certain bed.  
  
"Koh!" Nadia ran up to his bed and knelt down, putting her small hand on his arm.  
  
Jessie walked in just then, standing to one side of the door. LightStrike was standing on the other side. The organoid once again whipped his tail out to hit Jessie, and this time found it's unsuspecting target, striking him hard in the shin. Not hard enough to break any bones of course...  
  
Jessie yelled and grabbed onto his shin, "God Dammit! That hurts! Owwww."  
  
Nadia looked up and over, and was surprised to hear Koh start laughing quietly and tiredly. She looked down.  
  
"He's Jealous..." Koh whispered. He fell back asleep just then, and Orihime walked up to them.  
  
"Don't worry, he'll be ok. Koh's just tired." Ori told her, "But he's right. It does look as though you've got a little jealousy problem."  
  
Nadia laughed slightly and Orihime continued, "I can remember how he acted when your mom started to fall for Hiro... It was pretty funny..."  
  
"Well if it's anything how he's acting now, I feel sorry for Hiro." Jessie said, still rubbing his shin as he hopped over.  
  
"Oh no, it was worse." Orihime laughed, "He actually broke Hiro's shin... Twice. Then pushed him down the stairs once..."  
  
Jessie's face grew pale and he looked over at LightStrike, terrified that the organoid would suddenly pounce on him. If organoids could look truly evil, LightStrike did just then.  
  
"He must like you or something." Orihime winked at him, "Don't tell your father I told you though Nadia."  
  
Nadia nodded and said, "Of course LightStrike won't do anything like breaking bones or pushing people down stairs now... would he?" She turned to look over at the organoid who seemed to be trying to look unbelievably innocent.  
  
"Oh, Will and the others told me to tell you that they are all in a room upstairs. I don't know which one, so you'll have to find it." Orihime sighed, "You may want to go up there and wait until we can come up with another plan. I'll take good care of your brother."  
  
Nadia was suddenly reminded of what Chris had told her. He had a plan... would he tell the other adults?  
  
"Thanks orihime." Nadia said, "It's good to have you back."  
  
Ori nodded and turned back to her own business, and the two teenagers left, Lightstrike just about to follow.  
  
"Hey LightStrike..." Ori said, and the organoid turned to face her, "Go easy on him... he's a good kid."  
  
LightStrike turned and followed the two teenagers closely, and Orihime had one last glimpse of LightStrike about to his Jessie before the doors closed. She then heard Jessie wail out in pain and Nadia scold the organoid.  
  
***********************  
  
They had eventually made it to the room, Rion had shown them were it was, and now they were all inside, just hanging around.  
  
Jessie was nervously sitting next to nadia on the floor against a wall, turning to look at LightStrike ever so often. Hikari, and will were sitting on the edge of the bed. Rion and Ayane were sitting on a couch with LightStrike standing next to it.  
  
Shiro was busy gazing out the window, the cuts on his face had stopped bleeding, and kristen was pacing back and forth across the room.  
  
It was pretty silent all together, each teenager focused on his or her own thoughts, the storm still raging outside. The sun was almost completely set, giving the dark, cloud filled horizon an eerie glow. The winds could be heard roaring outside, and thunder boomed occasionally, followed by the bright flashes of lightning.  
  
"Shiro...?" Nadia asked... "What did my mom look like?"  
  
Shiro turned, a bit surprised by the question.  
  
"She was a demi-human right... I couldn't see her very well with the storm and all."  
  
"She looked..." Shiro began, trying hard to explain it.  
  
"Really pretty." Hikari said softly and the others nodded.  
  
"But tired... really tired." Will added, "Not exactly like, sleepy tired, but a different kind. I don't know how to..."  
  
The was a sudden knock at the door that startled the entire group, causing LightStrike to growl at the noise. They all shook it off pretty quickly and Shiro walked over to the door and opened it, surprised to see the ZBC commander and his organoid.  
  
"Hey guy's... Can we come in." Chris asked, and Shiro shrugged, walking back over to the window. The storm seemed to be teasing them. Every time it looked as though it would let up, it just got worse. Curse Zi for being mostly desert.  
  
"So, what are you all up too?" Chris asked, finding a stool and sitting down.  
  
"You told me you had a plan." Nadia almost demanded, not giving anyone a chance to answer Chris's question. The teenagers, none of whom new anything about what she was talking about, turned their eyes to Chris.  
  
Chris sighed and looked directly over to Nadia, "Actually, that's what I came up here to talk to you about..." He paused, "I was just down their listening to anything the others could come up with... and they can't. So, Im going to tell you my plan, because in my opinion, this isn't their fight anymore."  
  
"What do you mean?" Kristen asked.  
  
"I new it ever since I met you four." He looked over at Jessie, Nadia, Ayane and Rion, "You are the future of Zi. All of you. Not those people standing downstairs. And though they fight to protect you all and make Zi a better place for you all to live... They're tired."  
  
Nadia looked over at Will, and he nodded, "I could tell Rain was when I saw her."  
  
"You can see it in all of their eyes." Chris continued, "They are getting older, though not really old per say, but..."  
  
"We understand that Sir." Ayane said, "Please continue with the plan."  
  
Chris nodded, "You are all smarter, braver and stronger than you should be for your age."  
  
"I think we grew up allot within the past few days." Rion said, and the others agreed.  
  
"Well, like I was saying... it's not their job to fight and protect Zi anymore, but they still do, and will. I have been commander for the ZBC for only ten years. And within that little bit of time I have yet to see a more dedicated group than your parents, and well, you.  
  
"For the past 20 years there has been a top secret ZBC operation. I was put in charge of it ten years ago, and it was just today finished. It is called Project PHOENIX." He paused, "And I want all of you to be a part of it. Not your parents... though I do want them to help, but I want all of you to be in charge."  
  
"What exactly is it sir?" Nadia asked.  
  
"Well, I'd rather show you. I was down there, listening to the other adults, and they said they were going back to your base to pick up the others. Im going to ask them to take us to a secret underground ZBC compound afterwards that is luckily, not to far away from the Waterfall Oasis. That's when I'll show you."  
  
"Well whatever it is... will it work?" Kristen demanded.  
  
"It's the best chance we've got." Chris answered, "It won't take long, seeing as though we are only about half an hour from your base now, give or take. To get to the compound and get the entire project ready, I estimate 4 hours tops. So... get some sleep."  
  
He turned and left, his organoid following closely behind. Once they were out the door, Zeke growled and Chris turned to talk to him. Zeke growled again.  
  
"Am I sure...?" Chris asked, "Yes. Im positive. Zeke... you zoids and organoids live on for a very long time... we humans, we only live for a very little time compared to you. But you know this. Compared to you zoids, and compared to time in a whole, we are only that a blink of an eye." He paused, "And within that blink, are new generations of people who must live their own lives, and protect their own futures. One generation can't keep doing it for ever... you see? If they tried to... they would fail eventually."  
  
Zeke growled again and they continued walking, "Of course each generation will receive help from the one before it... that's important too... but they must be the ones to save their own future. Understand?" Zeke nodded, "That's how I look at it anyway. They... well, they are the future."  
  
*****************************  
  
Sin looked down at his chess board and smiled, about to move another piece when a knock was heard on his door. 'The worthless demi-human no doubt.' He thought. "Come in."  
  
He was right. Gabrielle shuffled in slowly, her features both angry and seemingly thoughtful. She seemed... different.  
  
"What do you want. I told you to wait with the other demi-humans. Both of them are secure, no doubt?" Sin asked, "It's almost time after all.  
  
"Sir... I disagree with your plan."  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"But Sir..."  
  
"Leave demon. You have no say in the matter. I brought you back to life for one reason, and one reason only. That reason is approaching."  
  
"And if I refuse!" Gabrielle demanded.  
  
"I'll use you anyway." Sin said.  
  
"Damn you..." She whispered, "You'll go to hell for this."  
  
"On the contrary." Sin added.  
  
"Your wrong Sin." The demon laughed cruelly, "When you get sent to hell, I'll be there to torment you forever and ever... remember that."  
  
"Whatever you say... demon." Sin said.  
  
"Oh I will Sin.. I will. And you will be there with me..." Gabrielle laughed, "Your plan, it will be ready in approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours."  
  
****************************  
  
"So what's the plan?" Izumi asked, "Where are we going?"  
  
"Chris wants us to go to some ZBC compound." Hiro explained.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 22~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Dang, I was hopping to get farther than that with the whole project Phoenix thing. Oh well. Next chap will have the bulk of it.  
  
Oh, and as for which of my friends ended up giving me the best b-day present... it's a tie between Jeremy (Kingdom Hearts Jap. Soundtrack) and my bestest friend Chris, who burned me the entire collection of music from Cowboy bebop, along with all the Live performances and one Yoko Kanno live performance. He managed to get it all on a total of 7 Cds. Hell, he even got the voice reels for the english character voices.  
  
How can I say that it's a tie? Easy. My personal stereo upstairs in my room has trouble playing some kinds of burned CD's. It'll read 'em fine all up to about the 5 or 6th song, and then just have trouble. Just with some CD brands though. Oh well. Its a cheap stereo anyway. Every other stereo (The big surround sound entertainment system downstairs and my sisters Stereo in her room... and my little boom box don't have trouble playing them. Lol)  
  
Anyways, next update will probably be either later this week, or the weekend. Im on spring beak, kinda busy, but not too bad so I'll probably work on it. Oh, and thanks for all the reviews! 


	23. The begining of the end again

Authors note: Thanks for the reviews you guy's. And I've had two people e- mail me about them having trouble remembering who the characters are. Any one else having trouble? If so, e-mail or leave it in a review, and I'll make a list or something to use as a reference...  
  
Im sorry this chapter took so long... I got kind of... preoccupied. Namely, beating Final Fantasy X in 4 days, and Kingdom hearts. Im in the last world of Kingdom hearts, and I only need 9 more Dalmatians... wish me luck.  
  
Then I had a school report on comparing and contrasting 2 asian mythological creatures. I chose Kitsune and Oriental Dragons. Just got that finished.  
  
Now, on with the chapter...  
CHAPTER 23  
  
"So where are we headed again?" Leon asked, sitting on one of the many couches in the main room.  
  
"Some ZBC compound not far from here. Chris asked us to go, saying it was really important. When I asked why, all he said was that It would help against Sin." Hiro explained.  
  
"Really..." Leon shook his head, "And Cloud?"  
  
"Sin got him. He just vanished... Like Koh did the first time. We managed to save the kids and the others, but Sin got his wish and has Cloud and Rain." Hiro replied sourly, "We were close..."  
  
Everyone except the kids or Chris were sitting or lying, in various places around the main room. No one said anything for a while, each wishing they could come up with some new plan that would at least help. But, none of them could. It all just seemed hopeless... or pointless.  
  
Izumi sat up and cringed as one of her wounds ached, "So whatever this Chris guy has up his sleeve is pretty much our last hope... huh..." She laughed inwardly, a saddened smile coming to her face.  
  
"I just hope it works..." Ryuji said, much in the same way Izumi had spoken. He got up and walked out into the hallway, deciding to gaze out one of the windows at the storm. He stood there for a while, wondering what all of them had done exactly to receive a fate like this. 'Well... I know what Copper did to deserve this anyway...' He thought.  
  
His thoughts then wandered to Ayane, and how she had reacted to the news of Copper. He hated those old memories, and the things his counterpart had did. If only he could find a way to change everything... never stumble upon the Deathsoarer piece... Then...  
  
"You ok?" Goji asked, walking up behind Ryuji. His voice startled him a bit, and he turned to face the Temjin X's pilot. He noticed Zack was with him and nodded.  
  
"I was just thinking." Ryuji said, "About some... stuff."  
  
"Copper." Zack said, "I can tell."  
  
"Yeah..." Ryuji chuckled and scratched the back of his head.  
  
"It's in the past." Goji told him, "Just a bad memory, you should just forget about it."  
  
"I was just thinking that if I had never found that old Deathsoarer piece.... Copper wouldn't have ever existed you know..."  
  
"Everyone has things they regret doing... things that they couldn't help, and some they could have. You didn't do anything wrong about finding the deathsoarer piece...." Zack said, "Something bad just kinda, came out of it. It's life I guess..."  
  
"Everyone has a bit of a mean side to them... some more than others of course." Goji said, "Copper was exceptionally cruel, and mean. He had no good side..." He paused, "And you have to remember. You and Copper were two separate people."  
  
"It's like when I was Zero I guess." Zack said, "I regret that now. That was something I could have helped too... But it's in the past, so I let it go. It was a bad choice I made back then and now I just have to live with it... but you see, you couldn't help it. So you really shouldn't hold it against yourself."  
  
"Yeah, I guess your right..." Ryuji sighed... his thoughts still on Ayane.  
  
"She'll come around. Don't worry." Goji said, then left, returning to the main room.  
  
*******************************  
  
Chris looked down at his watch, "We should be there any time now." He sighed and looked over at LightStrike, "This is it old friend."  
  
Zeke growled and followed Chris back down the hall and back into the kid's room. The old organoid looked at each of them in turn, studying them. He growled softly just as Chris began to speak.  
  
"All right everyone. Please listen up." He paused as everyone turned to see him, quietly giving him all their attention, "What you are going to see is a top secret ZBC compound. As you know, I have all asked you to be part of this operation..." He looked down at the ground, "Anything you see in this compound must be remained top secret..." He looked up again, "Do I have your word that you will tell no one?"  
  
The kids took turns looking at each other, almost as if they were deciding who would speak up... or who would be their leader. Their gazes eventually fell onto Nadia. She took in a deep breath and stood, LightStrike at her side in an instant.  
  
"First you have to promise me something." Nadia said, walking up to Chris, her ever protective organoid still behind her.  
  
"Yes?" Chris asked, scanning her face, trying to discover what she might be up to.  
  
"This has to be the end..." She paused, "We've been talking, each of us, and..."  
  
"And..." Chris was still a bit unsure of what she was asking.  
  
"Will this end it? For them...?" Nadia asked. Chris wasn't sure who she was talking about until she looked up, and stared directly into his eyes. Her Silver eyes told him everything... She was asking if this would be the last fight that her parents and their friends would have to take part of.  
  
"I promise. It will be the last fight no matter what, they won't have to suffer anymore. They can live peaceful once this battle is over. And I promise, they will be rewarded for everything they've ever done to aid Zi."  
  
"Do I really have your word on that?"  
  
"You have my word as a ZBC commander and as a Fly-height." Chris answered, putting out his hand. Nadia took it and they shook, and almost as if it were a signal the other teenagers stood up and stood behind Nadia.  
  
"Lets get going then." Nadia said, following Chris as he led the way. The others followed, and they all made their way down to the main room, just as Doc came onto the intercom, "Chris, please come down here, we're at the coordinates you gave us."  
  
The door to the main room shifted open, and in walked the 8 kids, and Chris. The two organoids followed at a difference.  
  
"Dad..." Nadia spoke up before anyone could speak... "We decided that no matter what... we're fighting this battle."  
  
Hiro looked at her, a bit stunned. Chris grinned. Good... it was their fight now anyway.  
  
"Listen up, Im taking the kids in first." Chris said, "I want them to see something, then we will come back here at tell you everything you need to know. You stay here until then... they are in charge now."  
  
"Now wait a minute." Orihime exclaimed, at the same time Izumi asked "What?!" The other adults also objected.  
  
"Stop this." Nadia said, quieting everyone down, "We agreed to it already, and you aren't stopping us." She looked up at her father, who was standing on an elevated platform, "None of you."  
  
"Nadia!" Hiro shook his head, but was interrupted again by his son, who slowly walked into the room.  
  
"Didn't you hear her dad? Just back down for once..." Koh said, a small grin coming to his face, "You aren't going to stop her in whatever it is she is planning."  
  
Nadia turned to face him and smiled slightly, as he walked up to her and the others.  
  
"And..." Koh added, "Im behind them all the way." He looked over at Kristen and the others and continued, "Im sorry... for well, you know..."  
  
Chris nodded, "You should be a part of it to... Koh, was it?"  
  
Koh nodded, "Koh Solehart at your service..."  
  
"Koh! You should still be in bed!" Hiro objected.  
  
"Just shut up already!" Koh said, "Im fine Alright. Geeze. Sir..?" He turned to Chris.  
  
"Chris Fly-height."  
  
"Whatever, just lead the way already before they try and tie us down..." Koh chuckled slightly.  
  
"Koh!" Hiro continued, "Nadia...." But it was already too late. They were leaving... and there was nothing he could do to stop them... but he could still object, "Both of you are grounded for the rest of your lives."  
  
"So? Who's to say that we're going to live long lives anyway?" Koh almost teased, "Just listen to us for once dad. I have no clue what's going on, and frankly, I don't care as long as I can help now... after well, after what I did."  
  
Goji stood, "Shiro!"  
  
"You be quiet too." Shiro said, "You aren't stopping me either."  
  
"And before you say anything..." Kristen said, waving over at her parents, "Forget it. I've already made up my mind." Will, Hikari and Rion all nodded.  
  
"Us too." Rion said.  
  
Ryuji stood and looked down at his daughter, and nodded, "Your going too?"  
  
"Yes." Ayane answered swiftly, averting her gaze to the ground. She was surprised when Ryuji wrapped his arms around her and hugged her gently, "Then be careful ok? And..."  
  
"Ryuji you can't be serious!" Jemie said.  
  
"Good luck." Ryuji said, "After all, according to Chris, you are all in charge now... and I wouldn't feel safer in anyone else's hands..."  
  
"Dad..." Ayane nodded, "Im sorry.."  
  
"Don't worry about it. You should all get going now, no time to waist." Ryuji said, "I trust you. I've been thinking and well... This is..." He was surprised when Nadia took the words out of his mouth.  
  
"Our fight now." Nadia said, causing the other adults to quiet down immediately, "This is our fight."  
  
Chris couldn't help it. He smiled inwardly, 'Good Girl' he thought, "Lets get going then... shall we?"  
  
The teenagers nodded, and followed Chris out, both organoids with them. It left the adults completely... dumbfounded.  
  
****************************  
  
Gabrielle looked over at the two other demi-humans in the room, both of whom were still completely in control of themselves. Sin had promised that. They'd be able to be themselves... even if they were to weak and unable to stop him.  
  
Cloud was unconscious, and had been moved to sit in the corner... Rain at his side. She had a look of complete hopelessness.  
  
Gabrielle turned away quickly, feeling something in her heart that she hadn't felt in a long time. So long, she couldn't recognize what it was.  
  
Sin's voice suddenly filled the room, even waking Cloud up, "Are you all ready?"  
  
"Go to hell Sin." Gabrielle replied.  
  
"Good. Now get them ready."  
  
Gabrielle cursed as she forced Rain onto her feet and towards the center of the room. She shoved her onto a round platform, where wires and cords from all over began to wind themselves and attach themselves into her armor. As soon as the first cord attached to her armor she seemed to be paralyzed, unable to escape. Then she did the same with Cloud. But before she could shove him up he spoke to her.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" Cloud whispered, "Before everything... before you kidnapped us when we were little... I can remember you... You were different. You used to come over, and visit... you were so... nice. What did you have against us?"  
  
Gabrielle was stunned, she didn't have a strait forward answer at first, "I always hated you. Always will."  
  
"That's not what I remember..." Cloud said, and Gabrielle shoved him onto the platform.  
  
"Then tell me this..." Cloud said as the wires began to attach to his armor, "Why are you helping him?"  
  
Gabrielle didn't answer, just walked over to the third spot on the platform and jumped up, allowing the wires to wrap themselves around her. She cursed on the inside.  
  
The platform began to rise, slowly but surely into the room directly above them. When it stopped the three demi-humans were in a triangle position around the Chaos-sin's core.  
  
**********************************  
  
Chris pressed a small button on his watch, and the mud that had once been sand shifted, a large metal platform pushing up out of the ground. He whipped the water from his eyes and pushed back his blowing hair, leading the teenagers into the underground compound. Immediately ZBC officials began walking up to him left and right, but he just waved them all off.  
  
The teenagers looked at everything, from the hundreds of computer's to the hundreds of people, to the hundreds of rare zoids. It was actually quite amazing.  
  
"Ok, here we are." Chris said, approaching an elevator, He put his hand against a screen, and they all watched as a small light, or laser, scanned each of his fingerprints. The door opened, and Chris let them all in before entering himself. He closed the door and the elevator immediately began to lower. It seemed to descend for a good five minutes.  
  
The elevator was made of glass, and with each floor the teenagers got a glance of something completely amazing. Zoids, people, computers, junk. Everything. Everytime the elevator would pass up another floor the lights would fill the closed space, and show them something completely new.  
  
Finally they reached a floor that was completely blocked from view. Chris pressed his hand against the screen once again, and the door shifted open to a pitch black room.  
  
"This, my friends...." Chris said as they all walked in, stumbling in the darkness, "Is project Phoenix," He flipped on a light and a gasp was caught in everyone's throats.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 23~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Im sorry about the cliffhanger... I couldn't resist. :P I'll start writing the next chapter now...  
  
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! 


	24. The Phoenix

Authors note: Hey everyone, how you all been? Don't really got much news except schools almost out. (I get out on the 13 of June, and all the other schools (By that I mean every school in Wyandotte cept mine) gets out on the 16th yay. I get out 3 days before Gabrielle does!  
  
Oh yeah, the 29th of this month through the 2nd of next month I will be in my home state, Arizona. I really don't want to go... my mom is making me. It's all because she says that my sister and I need to meet her side of the family because we barely remember them, and because Brian (A cousin. Im leaving it at that because for as long as I've known who he is he's just always been my cousin... even though technically... well, never mind. Don't ask unless you really want to know, I know that probably didn't make much sense.) Is graduating and my mom wants to see it very badly. Even though really, I don't see why. Sometimes my moms side of the family really ticks me off. (My sister really does not want to go. She has a really important engagement that she shouldn't miss... my mom says that she will force her to go though, and I really think that's wrong.)  
  
Anyways, here's the next chapter (Did you like the last cliffy?)  
  
CHAPTER 24  
  
"So... how do you like it?" Chris said smugly, looking at each teenagers expression in turn as they looked at the sight in front of them.  
  
"It's... breathtaking." Nadia answered, and the others agreed. No wonder it was top secret.  
  
"But... Sir." Hikari said, "You said you want us to be in charge of this or whatever... you don't mean..."  
  
Chris smiled and cut her off, "Yes, I do. I meant everything I said before. Let me introduce you to Phoenix. You all better get used to it, you will be running it."  
  
Phoenix. It was an appropriate name.  
  
********************************  
  
Sin laughed. Certainly no matter what the ZBC had up it's sleeve, if anything at all, could stop him now. Within a short amount of time it would all be over, and the name Sin could be forgotten, along with everything else.  
  
He watched as the wires and cords infused themselves with the core, turning it a bright shade of pure white. The demi-humans themselves had their own light, they each seemed to glow a different color. The demons armor seemed to glow a soft shade of red. They Ryuu's was a deep pure gold, and Tenshi's was a light blue, almost the color of a clear day's sky.  
  
Good. It was working. Soon, it would be over, and humanity would see it's last hour.  
  
********************************  
  
'Then tell me this... Why are you helping him?' Gabrielle kept hearing that statement in her head... not exactly sure why. It just seemed to strike her with something... a feeling or emotion that she hadn't felt in a long long time. But what was that feeling?  
  
'What did you have against us?' She just kept hearing Clouds voice. She hated it. '...you were so nice...' She wished his voice would just shut up already. '...why?' it kept asking her. And she had an answer... but for some reason, it felt like the wrong answer.  
  
********************************  
  
Project Phoenix. Now that Nadia thought about it, the name was pretty obvious.  
  
In front of her stood a very large zoid. Though, she was sure it was still just a bit smaller than the Chaos-sin... but it was close.  
  
This zoid... it was the first bird like zoid she had ever seen... she knew that they weren't common. Someone had once told her it was because they were awkward, both in look and in movements. But the opposite could be said for the Phoenix. It was truly a sight.  
  
"Wow." Koh mumbled, not taking his eyes off the zoid.  
  
"Well lets get inside." Chris said, leading the way. The rest of them stood for a few more seconds, gaping at the Phoenix, then followed. Nadia was last, the large zoid reminding her of something... but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.  
  
Once inside the cockpit they were even more amazed. The back end of the cockpit was elevated up, and from there you could see the entire room. In the center of the lower level, connecting to the higher level was some sort booth, maybe a main weapon control system, or the controls for making the zoid move. Then, off to the left and right of the lower levels were rows of computers and control panels, each one for a different task. In back was a platform that had a microphone, and more controls.  
  
But the oddest part was the glass of the cockpit. From the outside it looked as though the only glass in the cockpit was the eyes of the zoid. But from inside it looked almost perfectly clear, with a little silver tint.  
  
Chris walked over to Nadia and placed a hand on her shoulder, "What do you guys think?"  
  
"It's incredible..." Nadia answered.  
  
"That's not an understatement," Kristen added.  
  
"It's composed of the most advanced technology we could use of the old world, and Zi. This zoid is the most advanced creation in a long, long time." Chris stated.  
  
"Old world?" Will asked suddenly, not sure what Chris meant.  
  
"Never mind. So you guy's like it huh?" The commander smiled, "Good, because from now on Phoenix is you best friend."  
  
"You really want us to run this." Nadia said turning to face him, "Are you sure, I mean, aren't there more skilled pilots... we are after all, just a bunch of teenagers from various teams."  
  
"You, young lady, will be piloting it."  
  
"What!?" Nadia choked, but before she could say more Chris interrupted.  
  
"I understand that you are all just kids. And Im sure there are more skilled pilots. But you see... you 9 have something that could not be surpassed by every pilot on Zi...." Zeke growled at this, almost as if he was agreeing.  
  
"And what is that...?" Jessie asked.  
  
"You have the most admirable bravery I've ever seen... and you have a reason to fight... something to protect, something to save. Your young, all quite intelligent, mature and selfless." He sighed, "But you haven't lost your childishness and fears that are still deep inside you. You are not completely devoid of emotion like those pilots whom you have mentioned before, those that are "more" skilled." Chris explained.  
  
Ayane was about to say something but Chris just continued.  
  
"Through everything all of you have managed to stay who you are. You have managed to stay friends, and have grown considerably more close because of all of this. And that is truly amazing." He continued, "I once read somewhere that children were always more innocent than adults, more carefree, more alive really... And though you may have grown up quite a bit... you are still those same little children, you know fear. You have grown braver. And you know, bravery is not the absence of fear... bravery is the ability to stand up to that fear. You above all else, have this ability. Yes, this is your fight, because it is your future that will become of this fight. And all this that I have said, is true, and it's what will make you more skilled, more reliable and more powerful than every other person on Zi."  
  
Chris's speech had hushed the teenagers, and they each looked around at each other, unsure of what to say. Eventually Shiro spoke up, "You really believe all that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Wow." Kristen sighed, "That's... really... um..."  
  
"Strange." Rion whispered under his breath, causing Ayane and Hikari to chuckle slightly.  
  
"You know..." Chris said, "Your parents really do believe in you the same way I do. You can tell by looking in their eyes. I believe it was their belief in each other and the exact same thing I have said to you that gave them such strength all those years ago."  
  
"So what happened to them then...?" Hikari asked quietly.  
  
"We already answered that Hikari," Will said, "Their tired. They grew up. And they can't keep protecting everyone else forever. So, like Nadia said, this will be their last fight and we will take over."  
  
Nadia nodded, "A reason to fight... something to protect, something to save. Our fight, our future."  
  
"So... are we ready to learn how this baby works?" Rion asked, a sly grin coming to his face. He turned to Chris.  
  
"Allrighty, now listen up, I don't have much time to explain this to you because I suspect that Sin may be on the move. This zoid has one main control booth, and 7 separate control panels. It also only has one main computer. This is all here, in the cockpit." Chris Explained, he pointed through a door, "Down that hall are the main compressors, and engines. The core is in the direct center of the zoid, and it draws all it's power from two basic outputs, a main, and a secondary. The secondary is used only for the Phoenix's main weapon, which is a huge charged particle like canon. It is not however a charged particle canon, but a newer weapon I myself have invented." He paused, "We have not been able to test it yet though... it works only in theory because we have no time to test it. It has very unique properties as well."  
  
"And what about that hall?" Koh asked, pointing to another door.  
  
"That is the main elevator and staircase. This battlezoid is capable of holding 170 support zoids, though it is recommended not to pass 150. It's currently loaded with 40 zoids, 20 command wolfs, 10 Gun Snipers and 10 elite saber tigers. That's where the elevator leads to. But I have a feeling that it won't be our main force..."  
  
"Our main force is going to be the others isn't it?" Ayane asked, "Our parents and friends. They will support us. That's your plan?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"It's an incredible strategy." Will said, "how many weapons is the Phoenix loaded with?"  
  
"Many, and they will be run by 4 of the 7 control panels." Chris said, "Each panel has simple enough controls... and as for the main control booth..."  
  
"I don't know if I should... I don't pilot an aerial zoid." Nadia said.  
  
"You will do fine. I have been watching you all, and have tried to figure out what would be best for your tasks in here."  
  
"And?" Jessie asked, "Surely you can't expect the nine of us to run this by ourselves."  
  
"Oh no. I will have many workers monitoring the status gauges, secondary control gauges, and core. You won't be alone. Trust me."  
  
"So what did you come up with?" Will asked.  
  
"Nadia, as I have said a few times now, will be in the main control booth. Shiro?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You will be at control panel one. It it is a maneuverability control panel, and after studying your humanoid I have discovered that if Nadia is to pilot, she's going to need your skill to help. The first control panel on the right is yours. Now, Kristen's your name isn't it?" Chris turned to Kristen.  
  
She nodded, "Yep."  
  
"Your going to be running the main power lasers on panel 2. The lasers are located on each side of the Phoenix's head, there are four total... Alright?"  
  
"Sure..." Kristen nodded, strolling over to look at her panel.  
  
"Now, Rion. I want you on panel 3. It runs the blades located on the tips of each wing, the claws, and the blades that are located along the beak of the Phoenix."  
  
"Right." Rion walked over to his panel.  
  
"Ayane, your on panel 4. It runs the 4 charged particle canons located in a retractable panel of the Phoenix's stomach. This panel also runs some of the stabilizers."  
  
Ayane joined the others.  
  
"Koh, I want you on panel 5 to our left which runs the missiles and secondary lasers. Missile pods are located on the back, and legs. Lasers on top of the wing joints."  
  
Koh nodded, walking to the other side of the zoid.  
  
"No that leaves us with Hikari, Will and Jessie correct?" Chris asked, turning to the remaining teenagers, "I want Hikari on panel 6. It is a panel that runs main and secondary shields and wind stabilizers...."  
  
"Ok..."  
  
"Now, Will, your on the main computer."  
  
"What!?" Will gasped.  
  
"You heard me. You are basically in control of keeping track of everything. It also has to give the clearance to use the main weapon. One of three panels used to operate the main weapon. It runs the main scanners, power outputs and relays all images on the screens, and the messages. Your in charge of most of the zoid, having the main statistics." Chris turned to Jessie, "As for you..."  
  
"Im on panel 7 right?"  
  
"Yep. Secondary clearance of main weapon. It runs part of the radar, and all of the speed and power boosters. You, Nadia, and Shiro have basic control over how this zoid moves. Don't mess each other up. Boosters are under each wing joint, and belly of the zoid."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Commander..." Nadia intruded.  
  
"Nadia, you are the main pilot and have control of the main weapon." Chris said, "Now lets get this thing moving. Alright!?"  
  
"Yes sir!" They all said in unison, jumping into their chairs. Chris dashed over to the main control panel with will and used the microphone, "Everyone listen up, I need all of the workers and secondary force pilots at their stations. Were all ready." Once off the microphone he turned to each of the teenagers and said, "Once the hatch is open, start her up and get her into the air. Lets see what you can do."  
  
***************************************  
  
Sin pushed his white queen forward, taking out the whites last knight. 'One hour' he thought. one more hour and all will be complete...  
  
***************************************  
  
"All ZBC personnel are to report to their main stations. Operation PHOENIX is under way. Evacuate the hatch area, I repeat, Evacuate the hatch area. Clearance has been granted. Hatch opening." A loudspeaker rang out.  
  
"Alright everyone, this is it." Chris stated, "Your in charge Nadia..."  
  
"All... Alright. Shiro, Jessie are you ready?" Nadia asked. Each teenager had a microphone headset so that they wouldn't have to yell across the cockpit just to get each others attention. The main booth where Nadia was located was shaped sort of like an orb, with a complete 360 degree holo screen.  
  
"Of course." Shiro answered, "Whenever Nadia."  
  
"Same here." Jessie said, just as the hatch above them began to open.  
  
"Ok, starting main engines you guy's..." Nadia said, flipping a switch at the top of the panel.  
  
~~~~~~~End of chapter 24~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: O_O hope that chapter wasn't confusing or anything..... oh man... I forget what I was going to say...  
  
Oh well, couldn't have been that important... Thanks for reviewing. Hmmm... now what did I forget?  
  
Im typing the next chapter now... I want to finish the fic before I leave for Arizona... 


	25. Fight for the Future

Authors note: Not much really going on... Thanks again for all the reviews! (I say that every chapter don't I)  
  
CHAPTER 25  
  
Hiro and the others were quite surprised when even more of the mud near the Hover cargo began to shift, a large metal hatch slowly rising out of the ground, letting in all the harsh winds and rain of the storm.  
  
"What the hell?" Izumi asked, getting up slowly and walking over to the main screen.  
  
*************************  
  
"All systems seem to be running smoothly," Will said, looking over the statistics sent from Ayane and Hikari's control panels, You two double check..."  
  
"Everything's clear over here." Hikari said.  
  
"Here too." Ayane answered.  
  
"Shiro... Jess..." Nadia said quietly through her headset, "Im counting on you guy's..." She flipped another switch and continued, "Now, lets see how well this thing flies."  
  
"Im ready," Shiro replied.  
  
"Lets go then!" Jessie added.  
  
"All right then." Nadia said, placing her hands on the two control sticks. From what she could tell, the one on the left was basic elevation controls, and the one on the right was for directions.  
  
Shiro would aid her with his maneuverability skills, and Jessie would control the speed. In other words, this zoid was piloted by three separate pilots who each specialized in a certain skill. These three pilots would have to trust and rely on each other, not being afraid to do either of the two.  
  
Nadia pulled gently back on the elevation control, surprised at how quickly and well the response came. The Phoenix roared to life as it began to elevate.  
  
"Everything's going fine." Will reported, "We're rising quickly, there should be enough room now for you to speed up guy's."  
  
"You heard him Jess, that's your department." Nadia said, her face appearing on a small screen on Jessie's computer counsel.  
  
"All righty then. Shiro, Nadi, tilt her upward just a bit so I can activate the boosters and get this beauty out of this hole and into the open sky where it belongs!"  
  
Nadia smiled and tilted the right control stick upward. Shiro turned a small dial on his control panel that would make it so when they flew strait up the cockpit would stay level with the ground. One of Chris's more ingenious creations he bet. Because the cockpit was built like a sphere, no matter what direction or action the Phoenix took, the people inside the cockpit would always stay in the slandered, flat position, so basically, the floor of the cockpit stayed level with the ground at all times. Unless of course, Shiro were to dis-activate the magnetic charges that caused this. He then pulled back a bit on a small control stick in front of him, only barely opening the wings so Jessie could activate the boosters. "Whenever your ready Jess."  
  
"Yes!" Jessie cried activating the main boosters. A loud roar was heard as the speed boosters began to discharge and within a few seconds they were traveling upward at an amazing speed, flying strait up, heading strait for the stormy filled sky, "Activating secondary boosters..." Jessie said flipping another switch, jet streams of air could be heard as the boosters under the wing joints began to charge.  
  
************************************  
  
"What's that noise?" Zack said, the sudden sound of rushing air coming through from the outside.  
  
The adults were surprised when a bright glowing silver light appeared, coming out of the hole that had opened up in the ground. A loud screech like that of an eagle was heard, and the ground began to shake.  
  
The light grew brighter, the sound grew louder and another screech came, one that seemed triumphant and proud. Then before their very eyes something flew as fast as lightning out of the hole, bringing the bright light with it. Their eyes averted to the sky, where another loud screech was heard.  
  
"Holy shit..." Rei mumbled as he stared open mouthed at the sight above him. A bright light, like that of a meteor was soaring strait up, a brilliant display of colors bringing a glow to the dark, storm filled clouds that had covered the desert. It soared faster than anything any of them had ever seen, the sound was almost deafening as the aftershock, the sonic bomb filled the air.  
  
Then, it stopped mid air, and spread what appeared to be two very large wings, the light subduing just a bit.  
  
"Oh wow..." Tyra said walking over to the screen.  
  
There above them was a large zoid, a beautiful bird. Each feather on the wings seemed to be a separate piece of armor, and the tips of the wings were particle charged, like that of the Tenshi's own, and separated into large glowing neon bluish white feathers. The "Feathers" above it were a brilliant gold and violet. It's body glowed where the boosters let out energy, it's crimson red and gold armor almost looked like a brilliant flame.  
  
It's neck was the same red, all the way to the head, it's armor sprouting 5 deadly blades. It's bright green eyes shone brilliantly in the night sky, large oragnish gold plates of armor like feathers just above them. From the base of it's head sprouted 7 large scythe like blades, each one covered in a spiraling blue band of armor. It's back was the same red of the body, large plates of neon blue and violet sprouting where the shoulder blades would be. Long retractable blades covered it's "spine" all the way to the base of the long feather like tail.  
  
The top layer of armor on the tail was red, then under that was a soft shade of orange and finally gold. from within the feathers, two long red bands of armor flowed through the air, each ending in a brilliant mix of blue and purple.  
  
It's claws were as sharp as razors and glinted brightly in all the light created from the boosters and wings. at the bade of the knee and up missile pods were visible, along with cooling vents.  
  
Will's face suddenly appeared on the main screen, "Everyone, what do you think?"  
  
"Will are you piloting that thing?!" Orihime jumped up suddenly, and dashed over to the main computer panel.  
  
"All of us are mom..." Will said, pushing a small button in front of him. Nadia's face appeared besides his, "Your connected Nadia."  
  
"Dad..." Nadia said, "Please I need you to listen to me. I know that all of you don't exactly support us as much as Ryuji did with our decision to take charge. But now we need you... we need you to get ready for one last battle against Sin. We want you to be our main support in your zoids."  
  
"Nadia, how do you expect Izumi, Leon and the others to pilot in their conditions!" Hiro almost shouted, he suddenly felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Izumi standing behind him.  
  
"Nadia..." Izumi said softly, "Just give the command... I'll pilot the Shadow dancer for you any day!"  
  
"We'll be fine." Leon added, "We're stronger than that Hiro, you should know that..."  
  
"Thanks..." Nadia said, her screen disappearing.  
  
Koh's face took it's place, "Dad... please understand...."  
  
"Koh..."  
  
"So lets get this show on the road all ready!" Koh yelled, various yells of agreement from the other kids could be heard, "Ok, Nadia, Jessie and Shiro... whenever!"  
  
"Lets go then!" Nadia said, Jessie laughed as he flipped a few switches. Shiro smiled and tilted his control stick down a bit.  
  
"Don't bug those three ok..." Koh said, "Their trying really hard to pilot this thing right." He waved, "Bye!" Then his screen disappeared.  
  
"Koh!" Hiro cursed, "Damnit. He's always been like that."  
  
"Nadia, Shiro and Jessie are going to take us to where we last saw the Chaos-sin, maybe we can get some clues to where it might be now..." Will explained.  
  
"Lead the way, we'll follow!" Doc said enthusiastically, "Jemie, follow the Phoenix!"  
  
"Roger!"  
  
*********************************  
  
"This is really amazing Sir..." Hikari said to Chris. She was referring to the floor of the cockpit. It was clear as glass, perfectly see through.  
  
"Sir?" Chris said with a small chuckle, "Not anymore. You guy's are in charge now. Im in your command."  
  
Because of the completely clear surroundings, everything could be seen by the 9 young pilots. The hover cargo could be seen following below them and at a distance behind. Huge charcoal colored clouds were above, and rain poured down. The occasional flash of lighting would fly through the air, followed by a large crack of thunder.  
  
"It feels like we're just sitting on the air..." Kristen remarked.  
  
"It's really cool." Rion added, "It's weird though. From the outside the armor is perfectly solid, can't see through anything but the eyes. But from the inside... It's like glass."  
  
"Some of it is actually." Chris said, "They eyes are anyway. The rest is just the wonders of technology."  
  
"That's awesome." Koh commented.  
  
"Something's coming up on scanners you guy's." Will reported to all of them, "Large. Very Large. It's directly ahead of us... where those old mansion ruins were."  
  
"You want us to get in our zoids?" Bit's face appeared on a small screen in front of each of the teenagers faces.  
  
"Yeah." Will said, "But wait till we say until you guy's deploy."  
  
"Ok kid." Bit gave him a thumbs up and disappeared.  
  
"Five small objects on radar!" Will called, "Computers scanning them now." He paused as a large screen of statistics showed up, "Zebats. Traveling strait this way guys. Sin knows we're here."  
  
"Well then, lets just give him a warm welcome!" Kristen said, "Im activating Lasers."  
  
The Phoenix spread it's wings wide, almost completely doubling it's speed. The four power lasers along the sides of the head began to glow, and 4 of the 5 zebats were gone within seconds.  
  
The 5th Zebat turned around quickly, back in the direction it had come. It's black armor could soon no longer be seen amidst the billowing storm clouds and Rain.  
  
"Lost him." Will reported, "No wait... at least 50 things have shown up on radar... "  
  
"I got it..." Ayane said, activating the charged particle canons.  
  
The phoenix stopped mid air screeched as the bright beams fired towards the approaching objects, and a volley of explosions rang through the air.  
  
Then the most unexpected thing happened. The Phoenix was suddenly jerked sideways, sending the canons off course.  
  
"What the hell was that!?" Shiro demanded, trying to straiten out the zoid for Nadia, who was trying to put them back in the upright posistion.  
  
"Something big... it's invisible to the radar..." Will said, "And apparently to eye since we can't see it..."  
  
"The wing's stuck, I can't straiten us out!" Nadia cried, "Something's holding us!"  
  
"Wait a sec... The Chaos-sin!" Will said, "It's cloaking!"  
  
"Leave it to me..." Rion said, activating the energy along the blades, "Which wing is jammed!?"  
  
"The left one!" Shiro and Nadia answered together.  
  
The Phoenix's blades extended and a loud roar filled the shifting air... within a matter of seconds the Chaos-sin had appeared, it's arm sliced by the blades along the Phoenix's wing.  
  
The Phoenix screeched again and soared strait up, then dove towards the monstrous dragon. Rion activated all the blades, the giant bird glowing brightly through the storm. Lighting danced along the blades, thunder could be heard for miles around. It continued to glow greatly as it spread it's wings wide, the jetstreams of wind rushing above and below the great wings.  
  
"Well, well, well..." Sin's voice filled the air, "What a neat little toy."  
  
"Mom, I need you guy's to keep the small zoids off of us..." Will told the people down at the hover cargo.  
  
"On it!" Bit called, as he pushed his Ligar 0 onto the catapult.  
  
The Phoenix dove strait at the Chaos-sin in a blinding light all blades extended to tear into the dragon. Roaring, the battlezoid elevated, but didn't manage to dodge the blow completely, it's belly torn open.  
  
Within minutes all the adults and support zoids were out on the battlefield. They were each fighting fights of their own, and explosions rang in the air as the zoids within the phoenix dispatched and also began to join the fight.  
  
"What a nice little army you've got there..." Sin teased.  
  
"Shut up!" Nadia yelled as the Phoenix let out a cry of it's own. It latched it claws onto the chaos-sins back and shoved downward, pushing the battle dragon towards the ground.  
  
The Chaos-sin retaliated by bringing it's large, bladed tail around to slash at the back of the Phoenix, tearing open a large gash. The bird roared in what seemed like pain as it released it's grip and let the strong force of the wind push it back. Sparks sprouted from it's back as it fired its charged particle canons, the dragon not quick enough to dodge at such a close range. The bright flash of light filled the air, blinding. All of them momentarily, and the dragon roared angrily.  
  
The dragon's right arm had been incinerated by the blast, sparks and wires flew everywhere, any pieces of armor that survived the blast falling to the muddy desert below. The monstrous beast let out it's anger in an amazing array of missiles, each one locked onto the Phoenix.  
  
"Koh!" Will yelled.  
  
"On it!" Koh replied unleashing all the missiles he could at the time.  
  
The two blasts met mid air, and both battle zoids were pushed back by the force of the explosion. Nadia and Shiro fought to stabilize the Phoenix as they watched the smoke intently.  
  
"No!" Will cried, "The missiles he used jammed the radar!"  
  
"What!?" Chris ran over to his side and began pushing buttons, "Impossible."  
  
There was a sudden jerk as the Chaos-sin came out of the smoke, roaring loudly. It pulled up just before collision with the Phoenix, its tail striking out violently at the Phoenix's head. It missed, but barely. Hitting the shoulder of the zoid and sending it spiraling towards the ground.  
  
******************************  
  
"No!" Zack yelled as he and the other adults watched the Phoenix plummet towards the ground. for a lot of them it seemed familiar... Almost the same as when Rain had fallen all those years ago.  
  
"Rion!" Bit yelled, he cursed as he was tackled by an enemy iron kong.  
  
"Please... no..." Izumi cried as they all continued to watch the phoenix fall.  
  
And to their amazement, just before impact the Zoids eyes glowed brightly and it let out a magnificent cry as it spread it's wings, brought them down in a powerful blow, then veered up, strait back at the Chaos-sin.  
  
*****************************  
  
"What!?" Sin's shock could be heard as the Phoenix collided head first with the dragon, all blades impaling the stomach of the zoid.  
  
They then both fell, trying to break free of one another. Phoenix was stuck underneath, trying to push it's way out of the zoid with it's razor sharp claws. The Chaos-sin spread it's wings, and barrel rolled, tearing the blades right out of itself.  
  
Roaring in pain the dragon continued to pummel, the Phoenix not far behind. Both zoids were obviously struggling to turn themselves right side out, because both had their backs towards the ground.  
  
The Chaos-sin eventually got itself upright, heading strait back into the dark, now night, storm filled sky. It then unleashed another barrage of missiles, strait at the falling foe.  
  
Shiro and Nadia finally got the Phoenix back upright and Jessie activated all the boosters, avoiding the missiles.  
  
*****************************  
  
"Thank god..." Tyra said, pulling her zoid into the air. She had three zebats and a reddler on her tail that she had to loose fast. Quickly, she thought up a plan to take them all out. Pushing her StormSworder to the max, she flew strait under the stray missiles, barely missing all of them. The zoids that had been on her tail were not so lucky it seemed.  
  
"You ok Ty?" Izumi called, taking out an iron kong.  
  
"Yeah, " Tyra replied.  
  
******************************  
  
"Enough!" Sin yelled, and the Chaos-sin roared, it's armor beginning to glow a dark purple. There was a sudden flash of light as a wave of energy was sent in all directions, and various zoids stopped dead in their tracks.  
  
*******************************  
  
"My zoid froze!" Brad yelled angrily, slamming his fists onto the control panel.  
  
"Everyone's did..." Doc told everyone, "The only zoids that can move now are the chaos-sin and Phoenix..."  
  
*******************************  
  
"What the hell just happened?!" Kristen yelled, turning to see Chris.  
  
"The Phoenix it equipped with anti-freezing mechanisms. Apparently so is the Chaos-sin..."  
  
"You guy's...." Will said almost seeming to be scared... "Scanners indicate a major build up of energy inside the core of the Chaos-sin... to much energy..."  
  
"What!?" Jessie said.  
  
Sin's voice filled the cockpit, "Now witness the ultimate power of the Chaos-sin... The reason why I took the demi-humans...."  
  
"What are you planning on doing...?" Nadia demanded.  
  
"Im going to end it all. All humans will atone for the sin's of the past.... They destroyed the old world, and were on their way to taking out this one... I won't let them." Sin answered.  
  
"What are you talking about...?!" Koh yelled.  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you you pathetic little brat." Sin said, "You will thank me for your death..."  
  
The Chaos-sin's mouth opened wide, and out from it emerged a cannon like that no one around had ever seen before. Sin's laughter could be heard as a bright, white light began to form around the entire zoid. Inside the dragons mouth, hot magma like energy appeared.  
  
"What are you doing Sin!?" Chris yelled.  
  
"Humanity will end." Sin replied, "The Demi-humans posses the power to destroy all humans. I will use that power."  
  
"Your crazy!" Jessie yelled, "You'll die too!"  
  
"I said all humans didn't I. Of course I'll die. I have to atone as well."  
  
"I won't let you..." Nadia yelled, "You took them from me... My mom, my uncle... I won't let you take anything else from me! Im activating the main weapon."  
  
"I've cleared it." Jessie said, "Will."  
  
"I did. There's a problem though... the secondary generator for the weapon isn't getting power!"  
  
"No way!" Chris yelled, "Something's wrong. The connection must have been damaged... The canon runs off of Zoid magnite... if it's severed..."  
  
"The computer says that there is about a quarter sized break in the connection." Will reported, "The zoid magnite was damaged."  
  
"That's it!" Nadia said, "Ayane get over here!" Ayane quickly dashed to her side, "Take over..."  
  
"What!?" Ayane asked in disbelief.  
  
"No time to explain!" Nadia said, jumping out of the seat and dashing to one of the doors. She stopped suddenly and looked over at Koh. Digging in one of her pockets she pulled out the knife she had given him for his birthday, "Catch." Tossing it across the floor to him she turned around and said, "Thanks Koh..."  
  
"Huh!? For what sis!?" Koh demanded, to late because she was already out the door with a plan of her own.  
  
'For everything' She thought silently to herself, running down the hallway. She reached down her shirt as she ran and pulled out the necklace he had given her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 25~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Man, Im on a roll! Two chapters in one day... Im gonna start the next one now because Im really into writing for some odd reason. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! 


	26. The last battle

Authors note: I'm posting the last chapter at the same time that I've posted this one. Not really a chapter, more like an epilogue. I have lots of thanks to give to everyone, but im going to wait until the end of the epilogue.  
  
CHAPTER 26  
  
Nadia dashed down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her. She had a gut feeling that if they couldn't get the main weapon working quick, they were all in trouble. Not just her family and friends... but all of Zi...  
  
She stopped suddenly when she heard a loud crash of thunder. It made her worry. She shouldn't have been able to hear it from the inside of the Phoenix. Continuing onward she soon discovered why she could hear it. Ahead of her a large part of the Phoenix's armor had been damaged, an open gash letting in the sounds and rain from outside. Chunks of twisted metal lay scattered, blocking her path.  
  
"Damn," She looked around, trying to find some way through the mess. A sudden streak of lightning illuminated the area, showing her what she was trying to find. A small hole, just big enough for her to fit through and continue. Quickly dashing over she placed her hands along the edge of the gap, and began to lift herself through.  
  
She stopped and gasped suddenly, pulling back her hands in pain. The metal was razor sharp, and had opened to large cuts in the palms of her hands. She cursed as warm, crimson red blood began to seep.  
  
"I have no other choice..." She said to no one in particular. Biting her lip she placed her injured hands back onto the metal, and pulled herself through, holding back her tears. Hot, crimson red blood flowed off her hands and down her arms, only to be washed away by the heavy rain that had found it's way into the zoid.  
  
Once through she hesitated only a minute before pushing herself onward. Entering through a small door she found her self exactly where she wanted to be. The core room.  
  
*****************************  
  
'Why...?' A voice inside the demon's head asked.. Why did she decide to kidnap Rain and Cloud? 'Because I needed test subjects for the MCME' She thought.  
  
'But, then why did you help Sin?' The voice kept asking her, 'I wanted them to die. Revenge. They had killed me.'  
  
'Really?' It continued. Why wouldn't it leave her alone. 'Sin brought me back and told me I could kill them... I had to be under his command... He said they would all pay...'  
  
'Who?' It asked.  
  
'Everyone...'  
  
*****************************  
  
Sin laughed. No... nothing would stop him. Humans would be gone. Zi would not fall like the old world had. It wouldn't be like that... Evil would be gone, for evil was a thing only capable of humans.  
  
He looked down at his game of chess, not taking to much time he moved the black bishop to destroy the whites last bishop.  
  
How could he loose now? Nothing could ever stop him.  
  
*******************************  
  
Nadia gasped as she gazed at the core. Larger than any normal zoid she had ever seen, it illuminated the entire room in a brilliant white light. Her silver eyes suddenly averted to two large generators that were drawing energy from the core. One, she knew, supported everything but the main weapon.  
  
She dashed over to the other generator. A small glowing purple pipe ran along the wall connecting to this generator. It was solid, and about as wide as a quarter.  
  
Zoid magnite.  
  
She ran her hand along the stone. It was a very rare crystal... her necklace was made of the same crystal... the necklace that her twin brother had given her.  
  
If she could find the fracture...  
  
She followed the pipe through to another room, this one had another large break in the armor. Sparks flew everywhere and she knew that if it weren't for the heavy rains and winds that were pouring into the zoid, flames would have erupted and caused far more damage. Perhaps the storm was good for one thing.  
  
Slowly she walked over to where the wall would be if the armor would have still been there. She peeked over the edge, suddenly wishing she hadn't.  
  
They were farther up than she had thought. She could see the hover cargo below them, along with the hundreds of dead like normal zoids. Slowly she stepped back and focused on what she had come to do.  
  
Looking around she followed the crystal pipe with her eyes, trying to find the fracture. Thanks to another sudden flash of lightning she spotted it. And it was not in a good spot.  
  
The pipe ran along the floor, then turned, heading strait up the wall. Part of that wall was gone, and with it, a small chunk of the pipe. Getting to it would mean standing right on the edge.  
  
"Figures." She sighed. Slowly she hugged the wall until she was right on the edge of the broken metal, and looked up. The fracture was about two feet above her head.  
  
"Koh, I don't know what I would do without you..." Nadia said as she took off her necklace and turned to face the pipe. She could see the energy running along from the core room, stopping at the fracture. Hopefully when she fixed it it would fire the weapon right away.  
  
Not taking a moment more to hesitate she lifted the necklace, her blood stained hands trembling slightly, and forced it into the fracture. The energy from the core now had somewhere to go, and faster than she had expected it shot through her necklace, burning her fingertips. She pulled back suddenly, almost loosing her footing.  
  
************************************  
  
Sin couldn't help but smile. It was time. He turned on an intercom next to his desk and spoke, "Fire the weapon now. Set it to maximum power."  
  
Within a matter of minutes, it would end.  
  
*************************************  
  
"Uhhh, you guy's... the Chaos-sin... the cores energy just skyrocketed...." Will reported, his eyes on the screen in front of him. A major buildup of energy was focusing in the core, and he had a feeling that it wasn't good. Looking up, he was shocked to see the dragon was now glowing a copperish red color. The energy was still building up in the mouth canon of the zoid.  
  
And then it fired.  
  
"Everyone brace yourselves!" Will yelled.  
  
There was a sudden flash of light as both organoids disappeared from the cockpit, which surprised them all. Where they hell were they going anyway? Everyone closed their eyes knowing that this would be the end.  
  
A sudden screech filled the air as a bright beam erupted from the Phoenix's mouth, meeting that of the Chaos-sin's. The force sent both zoids backwards as the beams exploded in mid air.  
  
*******************************  
  
Nadia was suddenly jerked, causing her to loose her footing. She tried desperately to grab hold of something... anything. But it was useless.  
  
It seemed like slow motion to her... Everything seemed to blur as sudden rush of wind hit her. She reached out desperately, but there was nothing to grab hold of. She was falling.  
  
'Im going to die...' She thought as she began to feel light headed. She knew she would be dead before she even hit the ground. But come on... what a way to go. 'It's not fair...' She thought, her emotions getting the best of her, 'Why did this have to happen... why to us...?'  
  
She remembered something suddenly, something her mother had asked her once....  
  
~*~*  
  
*Do you believe in Fate?* Nadia could hear her mother's voice.  
  
*I don't know... do you mom?*  
  
*No.* Rain replied, though she seemed hesitant to answer, *I believe in destiny.*  
  
*What's the difference?*  
  
*It is said that Fate is something you can not control... everything is set... I believe destiny is the opposite. Destiny results from the choices you make in life. I believe your destiny is your own to control, while Fate is something you have no say in.*  
  
*Ok... then I believe in both... But then again, I still don't think there's much of a difference between the two. If it's destined to happen it's destined to happen... same with fate.*  
  
Rain laughed, *Maybe your right...*  
  
~*~*  
  
'This must be fate...' Nadia thought. She closed her eyes... If she was going to die please let it be quick. She focused her thoughts on her friends and family, sudden memories coming back to her. It made her want to cry. Life just wasn't fair.  
  
She opened her eyes one last time to gaze up at the dammed storm that raged above her... she hated that storm. to her, it represented Sin and everything he had done and taken away from her. Well, hopefully her friends would succeed when she was gone. She let her thoughts drift to them... the people she had just recently met had become so close to her. Rion, Ayane, Hikari, Will, Shiro, Kristen... and Jessie. she let out a small sob bringing her to the realization that she was crying.  
  
'Damn' She thought, 'why?' It was the last thing she thought before letting the darkness grip her. Her entire body ached, 'screw fate...'  
  
****************************  
  
"Nadia!" Jessie yelled. They could all see her now, falling to her death.  
  
And there wasn't a dammed thing they could do about it.  
  
There was a sudden flash of light and a screen was brought up in front of them. The energy released from the two battlezoids had collided and formed a huge sphere, and it looked like it would blow up any minute. No matter what they did, they couldn't stop it. They couldn't save Nadia, and they couldn't stop the explosion.  
  
Just when they had all given up hope, three small flashes of light shot out of the Chaos-sin. One was a bright crimson red, the second, a soft shade of blue... and the third a gentle gold.  
  
The lights soon faded to reveal the three demi-humans.  
  
****************************  
  
Cloud pushed himself as hard as he could, straining his dragon like wings to the max. He had to reach Nadia. That was the only thing that was important to him.  
  
Rain was faster than he was, but her armor was stronger, and she needed to try and stop the energy from exploding and killing every last human on earth. She had trusted her daughters life to him, and he would not let her down. He had to reach Nadia.  
  
He went into a dive, bringing his wings close to him and gaining all the speed he could. He had to get below her, stop her decent. Catch her.  
  
Finally he passed her up and spread his wings wide, grabbing hold of the unconscious girl in his arms. The slight, but sudden gain in weight caused him to falter slightly, but he fought against the strain and beat his wings, trying to steady himself out. He had to be carefully, he didn't want to hurt her with his blades or armor.  
  
He gained control of himself at last and gently cradled his niece in his arms. Using his wings he quickly flew back to the Phoenix, tears running down his cheeks. What if she was already dead? He couldn't tell.  
  
*************************************  
  
Jessie saw what was happening and quickly jumped out of his seat and dashed down the hall. He came to the break in the armor, and waved disparately to Cloud.  
  
Cloud few in and landed, his armor clanking slightly against the hard metal floor. Jessie ran to his side, "Nadia!"  
  
Cloud gave a sudden sigh of relief when she moaned, and coughed slightly. She was shivering quite a bit and her breath was soft, but at least it was steady. It reminded him of Rain.  
  
There was a sudden explosion, and Cloud turned to see what it was. Rain was loosing control of the energy.  
  
"Cloud..." Jessie said, "How did you escape?"  
  
"LightStrike and Zeke came and set us free..." Cloud answered, "Sin used us to create that energy... he made it so it would send somewhat of a biological wave that would kill all humans... he used us to make it strong enough..."  
  
Another explosion rang through the air. Cloud cursed, "The Phoenix wasn't strong enough to stop it..." He looked down at the shaking girl in his arms, "Rain can't do it alone either..."  
  
"If it explodes, will it do what Sin wants it to do? Will it still wipe out humans?" Jessie asked.  
  
"Yes..." Cloud answered, "But I won't let it... I have to go help Rain." He paused and looked over at Jessie, "Take Nadia... Protect her..."  
  
Jessie nodded as he carefully took the small girl out of the Ryuu's arms. They were both surprised to find some resistance.  
  
"Don't go please..." Nadia whispered, half consciously, she had grabbed hold of Clouds arm, refusing to let go, "Please..."  
  
"Nadia... I love you. Your mother loves you..." Cloud told her as he pried her fingers from his skin, "Don't ever forget that."  
  
"Please..." Nadia cried. She was barely awake, "Your going to die..."  
  
Cloud sighed as he backed away from the two teenagers, and spread his wings, "Jessie, when she's more aware of things... please tell her...." He was suddenly interrupted by another explosion, this one louder and stronger than the others.  
  
"I understand... just go." Jessie replied... "I promise I won't ever let anything happen to her."  
  
Cloud nodded, "Tell Koh..."  
  
"I will! Go help Rain!" Jessie yelled.  
  
The Ryuu let the wind catch in his wings and he beat down, heading strait for the energy that Rain was trying to subdue. His armor glowed a soft gold as he approached it, and he went around to the opposite side of Rain, holding out his hand and letting the light flow from it and into the energy.  
  
He added his strength to try and stop the energy, but he could tell it still wasn't strong enough. Another explosion rang out, sending a wave of pain through his body. He couldn't keep this up. He was surprised Rain had lasted this long.  
  
There was a sudden flash of red light, and next to him the demon appeared. She held out her hands, the red light flowing from them into the energy. She had finally discovered what that unknown feeling was... that feeling she couldn't place.  
  
It was guilt.  
  
"Why!?" Cloud yelled, his voice barely heard above the storm.  
  
"Never mind..." Gabrielle answered, "On the count of three."  
  
Cloud nodded and prepared to release all his energy. Looking over at Rain it was obvious she was about to do the same.  
  
"One... two..." Gabrielle yelled.  
  
"Three!" they said together. Each of them screamed in pain as their strength left their bodies, flowing directly into the energy in front of them. Bolts of lightning gathered and were sent striking the energy orb. It glowed a brighter white than before and one last explosion filled the air.  
  
***************************  
  
"No!" Sin screamed, slamming his fists on the desk in front of him. The Stupid organoids had somehow released the demi-humans!  
  
And now his plan was falling apart. The Demi-humans were countering the power of the Chaos-sin... they were making it so it couldn't do what he wanted it to... they were nullifying it.  
  
"How dare they!" He yelled... and now, without the demi-humans he couldn't create another one... those damned organoids... Now if the energy exploded the only thing it would do is take out the demi-humans...  
  
He had lost... How? How could he loose?  
  
He cursed and let his eyes shift over to his chess board. After a few seconds he let out an angry laugh and made the final move. When he moved his bishop earlier he hadn't realized he had made a grave mistake. Because of the layout of the pieces, his black king was checkmated by a white pawn.  
  
There was a sudden bright flash of light.  
  
***********************************  
  
Hiro and the others watched as the last strength of the demi-humans gave out and the large ball of energy exploded. The sound deafened them momentarily and the bright light had blinded them. Eventually it faded somewhat, and a huge shockwave was sent in all directions.  
  
The force was tremendous, sending zoids toppling where they stood, and it was heading strait for them.  
  
"Im raising the shields!" Doc yelled. The shockwave hit, causing the entire zoid to shake.  
  
*************************************  
  
"Hikari!" Will yelled.  
  
"Im on it!" Hikari answered, raising both the main and secondary shields. A bright pink light engulfed the zoid, protecting it from harm. It still shook.  
  
**************************************  
  
The Chaos-sin's shields had been raised and it was prepared to take the full force of the shockwave.  
  
Suddenly an explosion from inside the monstrous dragon erupted, and the shields failed.  
  
"What's going on!" Sin demanded.  
  
"Someone set fire to the lower section of the chaos-sin sir!" A soldier answered, "It took out the shield generators."  
  
Sin couldn't believe it. How could things go so wrong so quickly. He smiled wearily to himself and walked over to the wall, pressing a small button. The floor began to glow as the map of the planet Zi appeared.  
  
"Im sorry..." Sin said quietly, "I couldn't save you..."  
  
The shockwave hit suddenly, sending the battlezoid spiraling towards the ground.  
  
*************************************  
  
Jessie watched in awe, perfectly protected from the shockwave because of the shields. The shockwave was spreading around him, even upwards. A large pillar of light now stood where the energy once was, going from the ground to the sky. The shockwave was emitting from it. It was so powerful.  
  
Powerful enough to spread the clouds.  
  
Time seemed to stop as the dark clouds were sent blowing away from them. He was barely aware of the Chaos-sin smashing into the ground. Fires sprang up immediately from the dragon, no rain's to put them out anymore.  
  
**************************************  
  
Shiro and the others couldn't believe their eyes. They had won. The Chaos- sin was down, and they had actually won. Sin had been beaten.  
  
Ayane let out a sigh of relief, and climbed out of the main control booth. She walked towards the center of the zoid, where the others were gathering. All of them had tears in their eyes.  
  
They all knew without being told. This was the end... finally.  
  
But they were not without grief. They had all lost something within that short amount of time.  
  
******************************************  
  
Izumi stumbled out of her fallen zoid, meeting up with the other pilots. She looked up towards the sky, a crystal clear sky that was filled with brilliantly shining stars... it almost seemed unreal.  
  
She knew they had won. But she also knew something else.  
  
Rei walked up to her and hugged her tight, his dark blue hair hiding his eyes. She knew that he was crying, just like everyone else.  
  
*******************************************  
  
Jessie stared down at his family and friends below him, then back up at the cloudless night sky. The gentle breeze stuck his wet clothes causing him to shiver slightly. He noticed that the Phoenix was landing near the adults and the hovercargo.  
  
He looked down at Nadia, tears in his eyes. He would keep her safe forever... just like he had promised Cloud.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~End of Chapter 26~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: Im posting the last chap at the same time Im posting this one, so go check it out ok? I hope you liked it.  
  
Now go read the epilogue! 


	27. Epilogue: The Flight of the Phoenix

Authors note: All right everyone, here it is....  
  
don't forget to check my final authors note at the end.  
  
CHAPTER 27/EPILOGUE  
  
"On this day the Zoids battle commission would like to recognize all of those who have fought bravely to help defeat Sin." Chris stated, Zeke at his side. He was standing on a stage, surrounded by hundreds of people. Behind him stood the others, "Also, most of us have all lost something very dear to us, family, friends, thoughts or possessions. Let it be known that we will start anew."  
  
"It is on behalf of all Zi that we thank those brave men and women who have fought and selflessly risked their lives for all of us. They will all be named heroes among the people, remembered for their deeds." Chris paused suddenly and turned to the group who was standing behind him. He looked and named them each to the people of Zi in turn.  
  
The legendary blitz team, already well known, now consisted of Bit, Leena and Rion Cloud, Jemie, Orihime and William Hermios, and Doctor Tauros.  
  
Rei, Izumi, and Kristen, Goji, Lavender and Shiro of the popular Fireblazers team.  
  
Brad, Naomi, Leon, Hikari and Tyra Tauros were all members of the Flugel team.  
  
Ryuji and Ayane stood together, with Zack.  
  
Hiro and Koh and LightStrike of the Sky Raiders...  
  
Chris paused suddenly, noticing that there were two people missing.  
  
*****************************  
  
"Lets go..." Nadia said, tossing the binoculars to Jessie.  
  
He caught them and took a quick peek down at the group below them. His family and friends were all standing, well dressed, on a stage. Chris was naming each of them in turn, and who they were.  
  
"You sure you don't want to be down there?" Jessie asked, turning to face Nadia.  
  
"Im sure..." Nadia replied, "I sure will miss them though." She walked to the edge of the grassy cliff that the two were standing on and looked gazed out at the hundreds or thousands of people that were quietly watching. Jessie grabbed her bandaged hand gently and gave it a small squeeze.  
  
Jessie sighed and took one last peek out the binoculars at the group. Chris was looking for them. He laughed suddenly and said, "He's looking for us Nadi."  
  
She gazed over and looked at the searching ZBC official and chuckled, "Let him look."  
  
They were both surprised when he turned his gaze in their direction, almost as if he knew that's where they would be.  
  
**********************************  
  
Chris smiled to himself as he spotted the two missing teenagers. He nodded approvingly and turned back to the crowd. He knew that Nadia and Jessie could hear him on the loud speakers.  
  
"I would also like to give recognition to those who sacrificed their lives to save us all." Chris said quietly, "Three people who died to protect us, and all people of the brilliant planet Zi. Without them..." He let his voice trail off, "All would have been lost...."  
  
************************************  
  
The group had been absorbed in their own thoughts during this time... each remembering the good times and bad times they had all shared. They had all lost something important, but they would still go on with their lives.  
  
It became obvious a few nights before when they had returned to the waterfall base... they were all weary, tired and saddened by everything that had happened. Each was talking about the "what if's" and "why's."  
  
Nadia was the most depressed, and nothing they could do could cheer her up. It was only by coincidence that a large, eight legged creature had chosen that time to walk across the table in front of Izumi.  
  
The pilot of the shadow dancer screamed bloody murder and jumped back behind the couch as soon as she had seen the unusually large arachnid walking. Koh immediately recognized it and ran over, scooping it up.  
  
"I can't believe it..." Koh stated.  
  
"Where did that thing come from!?" Izumi yelled.  
  
Koh actually laughed, "During the halloween party me and uncle Cloud..." He paused, a saddened smile coming to his face. He let the tears flow freely as he spoke, "We were going to scare mom with it..."  
  
Nadia looked up at the spider for the longest time... and laughed. She was also crying, but couldn't help but laugh. It surprised everyone. She walked over to Koh and said, "That would have been great... I can just imagine what mom would have done... I wish... wish I could have seen that."  
  
Koh smiled and nodded, "Yeah, me too. Sure would have been great."  
  
Various people then began to laugh, their thoughts no longer on the "What if's" or "why's" They then began to focus on all their good memories, not another word spoken about the sorrow filled ones. Of course, those memories could never be totally forgotten, but the good ones would always overpower the grief caused by the bad.  
  
Yes, it would be times like these, when they were all actually happy and laughing, that they would never forget or let go of.  
  
********************************  
  
Nadia sighed, tears running down her cheeks. Yes, all would have been lost with out their sacrifice. Still, it wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. But she had gotten over that... like Chris had said it was time to start anew.  
  
"Nadi..." Jessie said quietly, "Your uncle... when he handed you to me... he told me to tell you that he and your mom love you... and well..."  
  
"I know Jess..." Nadia wiped away her tears and smiled, "I just can't help but miss them sometimes that's all. Now lets go."  
  
"Right." Jessie hugged her tight as they walked to their crouching zoids. Nadia jumped into her Konig wolfs cockpit and brought the magnificent zoid to life. Jessie followed suit with his Lightning Siax.  
  
They stood their for one last second, looking down at the people they had helped to save below them. Then, quietly they turned, and left the cliff.  
  
*******************************  
  
Chris watched the two teenagers leave, and grinned slightly. They hadn't told anyone they would be going... The ZBC leader knew though that as long as they could see the sky above them, they would keep going, taking on whatever was in store for them. He turned back to the others.  
  
The entire group had already been given medals for their bravery, not to mention quite a large sum of money a few nights before... But Chris knew that wasn't all that important to them.  
  
He had arranged for a monument to be built in recognition of the loved ones they had lost, back at the battlefield where the Chaos-sin lay demolished. Sin's body had been found, along with some documents.  
  
The ZBC had kept the "old world" a secret for a long time, not wanting to distress the people. It was a planet that was very far away, and only the top scientists of Zi new of it. According to Ancient documents left behind by the zoidians, humans had fled to Zi after their original planet had been practically destroyed.  
  
The humans had been the ones to destroy their planet, polluting the waters, air and land. The nuclear technologies became to much, and greed among a select few people had doomed the planet. Sin, apparently, had been one of the few who had escaped from this planet, and upon arrival on Zi, had somehow managed to become sealed away like some of the Zoidians and Organoids. When he awoke he decided that humans should be wiped out because they would apparently just doom Zi as well.  
  
'Perhaps' Chris thought, 'But, perhaps not...' He turned one last time to the cliff where they two teenagers had once been, 'I believe you were wrong on this one Sin. Zi will not fall to that same fate... not when people like them will be the ones to live here... they will always protect us from those that are greedy or hate filled...'  
  
***********************************  
  
The Konig wolf ran freely through the grassy fields towards the battlefield, the Lightning Siax at it's side. They eventually left the fields and entered the still muddy desert, finding the new monument that had been built.  
  
Nadia opened her cockpit and stood up, letting the wind blow her hair gently. She turned her silver eyes towards the cloudless blue sky, watching as birds flew far overhead. To her they were like a sign of undying hope, hope that she would never every loose again.  
  
She looked back down at the monument. Flowers were draped over the stone, and butterflies were fluttering back and forth. It was a simple monument, but more beautiful than any other she had ever seen.  
  
It read, "In memory... Forever may they rest in piece those who have sacrificed their lives to save the fate of Zi..."  
  
Nadia smiled, remembering something suddenly, then she continued to read, "... In the battle now known as the flight of the Phoenix."  
  
"Ready Nadi?" Jessie asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So where do you wanna go?"  
  
"I dunno. Lets just run and see where we end up..." She replied, closing her cockpit.  
  
"All right then, lets go!" Jessie laughed and took off. They didn't need to worry about money, Chris had given them that, and they didn't every need to worry about their friends and family anymore. So they ran as fast as their zoids would take them, heading into whatever adventure of battle their futures may have in store for them.  
  
Nadia chuckled as she ran next to Jessie, her black Konig wolf yipping excitedly. *Nadia do you believe in fate?* A small memory played in the back of her mind. She looked up at the sky and smiled, "No... I don't."  
  
~~~~~~The end.~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors note: I can't believe it's actually over... It's been a while since I started the first one, and now... the end. Wow.  
  
Pyremon Infernos: Thank you so much for sticking with me from the start. Ryuji was such a fun character to work with, Copper and all. Ayane was fun too. Im glad you enjoyed the three stories, and Im flattered that you think it's one of the best out there (Besiedes the Bit/Leena paring Lol.) Your one of my best reviewers, and hopefully i'll be able to send those pics to you soon.  
  
Himeko: You have also stuck will me since the start and that in itself is a major compliment. Your reviews have allways been good, thanks for that. Though I will admit, my writing abulity had improved quite a bit, I wouldn't say it's "incredible" Lol. And Gabrielle says hi. Ever since you called her a wench that one time she says she's liked you, even though she was mad lol. Thank you so much. Im going to miss Izumi and the shadow dancer... who knows, maybe you'll start updating your story soon huh?  
  
Angel Sugar Princess: Im glad you've liked my story, and I hope I portrayed Orihime right. I still have those pictures that you drew of her. Very pretty pictures. She was a cool character, and a perfect match for Jemie! Oh, and I hope you liked Will, tried to make him like both his parents. Thank you for all the support with your reviews!  
  
G-force 1: Im waiting for your updates now! can't wait to see what happens next to Goji and the others. Now that I look at it, I portrayed him a bit differently than you did. Im glad you enjoyed my stories all the way through... Thank you!  
  
Sbiggster/Cloud light-feather/ Ligar X12/ Connor: Lol, I don't know what to call you! Thank you so much for letting me use Cloud. I was really suprised when someone thought of creating a character related to my own. He's such an awesome character too! Hope you like how I protrayed him... and thank you so much for keeping in touch with me through AIM!  
  
Kitai Matsuru: Thank you for sticking with me. I know I was kinda lazy with Tyra, but believe me it wasn't on purpose... I happened to neglect some of the Characters without even realising it until just recently. Really really sorry... Tyra was such an awesome character to use.  
  
DeathZealot: You've been reading and reviewing for quite a while now... thanks. I still think it was kinda funny how that one time you thought I was going to quit the story... guess that was kinda my fault for saying what I did... Lol. Once again, thank you for sticking with me!  
  
Mistress of all worlds: I really have to apologize to you, Im sorry I haven't really done much with Lavender... really, I did sort of neglect some of the characters with out meaning to. Yet, you still stuck with me and that really means a lot! Im glad you enjoyed the story. Thank you for all the great reviews.  
  
Dark Salamander: Haven't heard from you in quite a while, so I don't know if your still reading or not... If you are, thank you so much. Zack/Zero was a really interesting character to use, and his Bahamut 0 kind of gave me the idea for the entire MCME plot. Thank you!  
  
Dark Dragon: Only heard from you once so I don't know if you continued reading. Thanks for reviewing though if your still there!  
  
Logan Griffith: Your my newest reviewer! I want to thank you very very much for the compliments. Im flattered that you actually compared my story to actual novels. And Im very very flatterd that Im your favorite author! Such awesome compliments! Thank you!  
  
And to anyone who may read and not review, or i have forgotten to mention: Thank you !  
  
Keep a look out for me, who knows, I may write a whole new zoids story soon. Definatly won't be the same... Im going to miss writting this so much... but, all good things must come to an end. Thank you all and see ya later! 


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